


𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐋𝐒-𝐃.𝐌

by lettersformalfoy



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Book 6: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Enemies to Friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Letters, POV Draco Malfoy, Poetry, Sad, Sad with a Happy Ending, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-15 19:06:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 32,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29440899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lettersformalfoy/pseuds/lettersformalfoy
Summary: "𝐢 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞.".(january 25th 2021-?)ALSO ON WATTPAD
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 5





	1. PROLOGUE

.

𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄,

LIVES SOMETHING WE CANNOT POSSESS AS OUR OWN

𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐖𝐄 𝐃𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐎𝐍 𝐀𝐍 𝐄𝐗𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄

THAT IS UNATTAINABLE

𝐖𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐋𝐄𝐅𝐓 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐍𝐎 𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐈𝐂𝐄,

BUT TO CRUMBLE

.

𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐋𝐒

.

welcome to "𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐋𝐒", im so excited to share this book that took a lot of planning (still planning as i write) . a few disclaimers before we begin.

i was inspired by three things; bridgerton, orange (the anime) and your name.

first, this plot is my orginal plot. in some cases, it will also follow the plot of hbp-dh1 as well. second, juliet eclipse is my original character, every other character mentioned (besides anyone related to juliet) is owned by jkr (no thanks)

there will be mature themes and updates everyday or every other day.


	2. ONE

𝐉𝐔𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐓 𝐄𝐂𝐋𝐈𝐏𝐒𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐒 getting married this fall. Four more months till her hand would be decorated by a the family heirloom of the Prince Richard, the to be King of England. His brother would be taking his place to be the King of Scotland instead. Prince Richard was more then enthusiastic about the marriage; not only business relationships with the Eclipses' would increase his financial stability but having a presentable wife would make him look more exquisite than ever. Surely his efforts paid off for impressing the parents of young Juliet, who was rather far from optimistic when she had found out about the news regarding the obnoxious man's proposal. How she wished to decline, but what was done, was done, she was now stuck in the everlasting loop of traditional royalty families. Marry, make love, teach the children so they could become a proper King or Queen.

She didn't know what she wanted, she didn't know what her heart desired, but she didn't want whatever this was. Arranged marriages, beholding a throne, traveling an unknown kingdom she barely knew, it seemed as if her fate was already decied for her in her mother's hands. As an Eclipse, you were expected to listen to your elders, and not question their practices, hence why she had never spoke against her.

"The Ministry of England, they're working on it." Prince Richard sliced his steak with his butter knife, that sipped in easily, too easily to the point he had almost let go. Juliet let out a soft chuckle.

She earned a stare from her mother. A cold one, one she earned many times prior to her engagement.

"Is that so? It's a shame. I told them multiple times to take my advice and close it off for good, but the King doesn't have all the power sadly. A tyrannical government it would be, the common folks say. If I were the ministry, I would close it off immediately. The portal has been expanding every second."

Juliet didn't know what they were talking about, she was too busy picking the seams of her tight dress. She could barely breath underneath the tight fitted corset. Eating would only make the problem worse, maybe she had to put off some weight, she thought. Her mother had placed dietary restrictions that didn't seem to work, "Richard wouldn't like a wife who has belly fat Juliet." She held in her breath.

"I agree. It would be a great advantage-"

"Richard. It's not about the advantage. It's about the money." Her father grinned. "The other countries are offering us money."

"And trading benefits." Richard piped. He quickly regretted his words that he had blurted out on accident, Juliet found his clumsiness entertaining, this was the man she was to be married to? How charming.

"Money." King Eclipse emphasized again.

Her thoughts continued to hover over her mind. Money. Is that what her father cared about? Weren't they rich enough? Surely they weren't the richest family in the whole royalty line but their connections had notched them up a few places or more, if anything, they didn't need more money. It would have to go to the poor at least, but money and power did absolutely terribly things to people. She wondered how long they would last before it happened to them, maybe it already did.

"Y-yes my lord."

"I said to call me Hunter. Are we not on a first name basis Richard? Aren't you marrying my daughter?" He glanced at Juliet who was caught off guard before quickly averting his eyes back to Richard's.

"Yes my- Hunter. Yes, it's a pleasure."

"Indeed." He smiled again, a toothy one. "Once you two are married, deal with the portal agreement. We must be on top of the royalty line..."

Her mother smiled.

Her father's words clouded in her mind as he continued to ramble. The royalty line. That was it, not only a money basis but a reputation one as well, she scoffed lightly.

"Yes m- Hunter. You are certainly correct. They won't say no to me. May I ask, why do they want to keep the portal open?"

"To allow the universes to sync propotionately for eternity. If they close the portal, they would harm the other parallels. In other words, they would face destructive impacts and possibly death. The whole point of keeping the portal open is to allow the parallels to move against each other, without touching each other; if closed, they will intersect, and the other side will break."

"What will happen to us?" The king seemed surprised at Richard for not knowing this but didn't question anything.

"Nothing. Which is why I want to close it. Not only would be earning money but we would be the only parallel that is alone on it's own to exist. One line crumbles, the other one survives. Surely, I don't see why closing them is a bad thing, after all, we aren't the ones affected. We are very lucky." He smirked at his own comment but Richard seemed a bit frightened. "It is funny how they rely on us."

The rest of the dinner went by quickly, Juliet was changed into her nightgown by her maids, she hated not being able to do simple tasks like these, but it was not like she had a choice. Many maids had gotten fired because of her refusal, she found out about it at the age of twelve. Her mother often bothered about it, complaining it was her fault they were running out of new maids: Charlotte, Hannah, Lola, the list went on.

She was now seveteen. Young, very young. But it was considered normal during this time. The younger, the better, the younger you get married, the fresher you will age; whatever that meant. She thought it was just a manipulative phrase to make ladies like her marry early to keep the blood line intact. Arranged marriages seemed to speed up the proccess as well. Proposing was a waste of time and money, the bride would never have a choice, would they?

It wasn't opressive. No, she could decline Richard's proposal anytime, but for the sake of her family, for the sake of her bloodline she said yes. A stupid decision she might add. Since when did she care about the bloodline? She didn't want this life, yet, she said yes.

But what if she said no?

It would cost them a fortune.

But she didn't care.

But it would cost them everything.

She cared. And she despised herself for it, an arranged marriage that she had a choice to decline, yet she didn't because she had sympathy. Her family's repuation would falter if she said no, she was the only child, all the pressure was on her now. She didn't have a brother, no matter how much her father wanted one, her mother failed to provide a son, or a prince, or a king. And she told her mulitiple times how much she regretted it.

What if the same thing happened to her?

She didn't want children. No, not with Richard. A disaster that would be. She could imagine Richard abandoning her own children on accident (or on purpose) and even forget to feed them, no, he was far less than reliable; he was a complete nutter. It shook her with fear that he would now be the King once her father had died, or even now.

The things she would do to live somewhere else, live another life. She didn't mind if she lived in poverty, and worked long hours for pay, it seemed close minded for her, but every decision she made was never for her benefit, it was for her parents', or the kingdom's.

Four more months till fall.

How she wished to have those four months where she could live freely.

━ ✽━ 

𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐎 𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐅𝐎𝐘 𝐇𝐀𝐃 been sitting by himself lately. Well, not exactly by himself. He was surrounded by his usual clique of Slytherins, but the conversation he had was only with himself. He would ask a question, his mind would answer, he would ask again, then silence. Obviously, he was the one answering his own questions, and what stupid questions he asked himself. 'Why am I a death eater?', 'Because your father failed'. A funny answer, but the only thing he felt, was despair. His food remained untouched, since when did the steak look so unappetizing? He poked it around before being disrupted by Blaise Zabini's elbow that accidentally knocked over his goblet.

"Sorry." He chimed before going back to talking with Theo Nott.

Draco watched the water spill over the table as everyone ignored it, what a beautiful thing water was, it had the ability to be free and move freely as well, it was powerful but also calming. Oceans, bays, rivers had some sort of tranquility that put Draco on ease. Everyone had some sort of water in them, whether it was their traits that were rarely shown, or their bravery during unprecedented times. But what ruined it was the container that held the liquid, disabling it from moving. He felt like it, and now he wanted to be tipped over, so he could spill out and be free.

"The Ministry of Magic just signed a contract with the the other parallel agreeing to keep it open." Pansy Parkinson chewed, tucking her hairs behind her ear. "The only reason they did so is because they don't want to be responsible for deaths, but also for the money...."

Draco knew about the parallels. He didn't believe them at first, seemed some sort of attention trap at first but the portal itself had made him believe otherwise. It wasn't a wall, nor was it an apparating device; it was a large body of water right near the outskirts of England. In the middle, it was rumoured that the portal was there, he could see different colors swarming together, his father standing next to him as the large glass shielded them from getting any closer. If you went through it, you would go a different England.

It wasn't a rumour, it was true.

Surely enough, the topic of interest withered away but seemed to be intriguing to his friends ever since it had been in the headlines of the Daily Prophet; Rita Skeeter, a journalist who described the ocean as an obnoxious hoax but also a beautiful, unattainable surprise if it was true.

He could care less.

He had other things to worry about now. Pleasing Voldemort and his father while somehow make it out alive. Complete his task and kill Dumbledore by the end of the year. He had four bloody months left, which was unfortunately not a lot of time. He had come up with a few ways but executing them would be hard enough. His ambition didn't seem to spark during these times, yet he didn't admit it. He wasn't weak.

Yet, he suddenly had wished to be in another parallel.

"If I was in a complete different parallel...let's say like space era...bloody hell that would be mental!" Theo grinned.

Draco seemed interested now.

"What happens if you go through the portal?"

They all went silent.

Pansy looked at him. "Well, no one has ever gone through the portal, if they have it must have been secretive because it's hard to master. Mum told me if you go through the portal, you can end up in the abyss, or a much worser parallel then you want, even though we only have access to one parallel, we can end up in another miles away. It's a matter of luck really, nothing is guaranteed. Either way, it's highly guarded, just like how Dementors guard Azkaban."

Blaise cringed at the comparison.

"Why have the portal open then?" Draco queried .

"Too keep things in sync of course." She continued. "You see, the Ministry of England paid our ministry money in form of galleons to not close the portal. If we closed the portal, their parallel would fall apart easily, and we would survive." She smirked.

"So basically they're begging us." Blaise snorted.

"Technically yes. If our portal closes, that means the parallels will intersect meaning they will no longer be...parallels. But they would be the ones facing the consequences which is weird but at least its not us." She emphazised. "It's funny how much they rely on us."

The portal continued to be discussed even after dinner, Draco yawned softly, before slipping into his bed, not bothering to change his clothes to his night robes; they wouldn't be on for long either way. Everyone else had fallen asleep quite quickly, their peaceful breaths coming from each corner of the room, and Draco hated it. He envied that they could sleep, while he had to stay up till dawn working.

He would do anything for one nights sleep.


	3. TWO

𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐇𝐀𝐃 stayed in the castle for a week now, Juliet was tired of his clingy behavior towards her and tried staying far away from the young man as much as possible yet her parents had thought otherwise. She walked with him through the gardens, the corridors, the garden maze, and a lot more she could not even remember. She knew his efforts were simple, he wanted to bond with her. But is that really all he wanted? He wanted the throne, that was clear, he wanted connections, that was clear as well, and he wanted her, but he didn't want her.

"Your father and I are going to the portal today. I suggest you come with us. It will be an eye opening experience for you." He smiled.

"I would love to but—" Her mother glanced at her, her cold eyes sending a shiver down her spine. "Love to. I would love to go." She forced a thin smile as her teeth gritted behind it.

"I'm pleased my lady." He bowed a little before holding the princess' hand and kissing it softly, she cringed.

"I'll see you at the afternoon then. That's when the portal shines its best." He continued to ramble but Juliet averted her attention away to the sparkling fountain behind him.

Water. How fascinating a simple thing was.

"My lady?"

"Oh—yes. See you." She nodded, bowing a little before leaving the prince alone. She let out a deep sigh, exasperated from all the tension that built up in her head.

Her maids had hurried over to her, "how is the prince?" One piped.

"He was the same." She plastered a fake grin on her dull face.

"He so charming—I'm sorry."

"Don't be. He is indeed very charming."

Her maids giggled.

━ ✽━ 

Juliet's father had escorted her with Prince Richard to the portal, she dreaded every step they took but kept on a firm smile every time they glanced at her or when she had to greet one or was greeted by someone. Once they reached the private area her smile faltered away, her father whispered something to the guard before entering.

"What did he say?" She asked.

"The password." Richard answer, gesturing her to go in first.

She walked in as the door shut behind her, in front of them laid a firm glass. It was hard and thick, made of strong material, almost as if it was metal. She could tell just by looking at it. But what stood outside of it seemed more eye capturing.

It was majestic. A calm blue ocean, it was actually more of a bay now that she had a closer view of it. But one area stood out clearer than the others, it wasn't blue, it was all sorts of colors. Red, blue, pink, shades of green and hues of purple as well. It was quite obvious it was the portal yet she wanted to ask. Questions. She asked so many.

"So if I just dive in there, it will transport me to the other parallel?"

"Mhm." Her father reassured her. "It sucks you in to the surface, and you enter a completely dark place, after that you decide which way to go."

"How do you know which way to go?"

"You don't. It's a matter of luck."

"What happens if you-"

"Curiosity kills the cat dear." Her father cleared his throat, alerting Richard to do something.

"We are here to check in the portal today." He called over the guard. "Right on this glass, a screen will show up, we get to check how the parallels are doing." After whispering something to the guard, he nodded and left. "It's good to know these things, you know, a Queens duty."

"Your mother came here with me constantly before you were born." He added sadly, as if her mother having a child, having her was a barrier.

A few seconds later, he exchanged a few more words with Richard before a complicated screen popped up on the glass. It was full of words, links, and other materials she could not seem to comprehend.

It felt as if this was another parallel itself.

Richard seemed to read her mind. "This technology is highly advanced. No one knows about it but us and the Ministry of course as well as the ones in the other countries."

"What does it do?"

He smiled. "You're about to find out."

Juliet was mesmerized to see the screen moving against his finger as if it took orders from him, after a few clicks he had put his hand down, revealing a chart with two lines.

"Should I explain my lo- Hunter?" He queried.

"Hm." He nodded.

"Er- all right. Here." He pointed to the straight line. "This is our parallel, it's labeled Parallel number one. The other one," he pointed to the second straight line beneath it. "This is the other parallel we have access to. Parallel number two."

"So, what exactly does this mean?" She was more than confused, she knew about the parallels from a young age but not the complicated aspects of it. It had never occured to her how complex these things could be.

"It means we're in a good position right now." Her father cut in. "Parallels cannot intersect, they go on forever. In our case, they also go on forever at the same time, which means we live in the same time zone."

She suddenly was intrigued. "And What happens if the lines meet?"

"The obvious." Richard took over. "Sorry. I meant to say that the other parallel will be ruined. That's why we check occasionally to make sure the lines aren't close to meeting. If they are, that means someone's going through the portals, which also means the time will mess up, which also means we won't be in sync—"

"That's enough Richard. We can't teach her everything in one day. He seethed.

But Juliet already memorized everything, the conversation from that night at dinner had suddenly popped up in her mind. She wished she had listened instead of picking on her dress that bothered her. It was itchy.

"But— I thought you said, if you close the portal, the lines will intersect."

"Yes. If we close the portal, their parallel will go to ruins immediately."

"So what's the difference of going through the portal over and over instead—"

She was cut off by the guard knocking on the door. "Session is up." He repeated over and over till they come out.

"The guard does that to everyone. If we stay here for too long, bad things can happen." Richard let out a small sigh but Juliet still continued to ponder upon her unanswered question.

What did happen if someone go through the portal? What was the difference then just closing it off? And why was their parallel not affected at all? Why just the other parallel instead?

But she didn't have the chance to think for long.

━ ✽━ 

"𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐍'𝐒 𝐒𝐀𝐊𝐄 Draco!" Pansy groaned. "How are you not worried about this portal thing? Seriously, it's the most interesting yet worrisome—"

"Not everyone had the ability to stay interested on one thing for months." Draco seethed, shoving past her, but she continued to follow.

"But don't you wonder what can lie on the other side?"

Draco took a deep breath. "No, but if you do, why don't you go find out yourself? Everyone knows where it is. Just do whatever, don't bother me about it again."

"If you think so, I will."

"Then do it." He grunted.

He slammed the Slytherin boys dorm shut, thankfully no one was in there. His hands made his way up to his hair, as he frantically paced around the room. Why did Pansy have to talk about the portal to him?

A stupid portal, who cared? Useless.

He had other things to worry about.

He had just hexed Katie Bell.

Sweat built up on his forehead as he made his way to his bed only to get up a few seconds later and continue the cycle over and over till he had calmed down. A cold wind had invited itself from somewhere tingling his spine but he felt much calmer.

His breathing slowed down as he gulped at his intense reaction. What had he done? No it had to be done. Or he was going to kill him. And did he want to die? No. At least not yet. Not ever actually. He didn't want to be immortal either. Nor mortal. He didn't know what he wanted. But it wasn't this. He didn't want the mark on his arm to decide his fate for him, but that's exactly what it did. Would he ever be used to it? Would he adapt to his new life?

He needed a shower. A warm one. Cold and then hot. No, not now, the Vanishing Cabinet, he needed to check on it. But wasn't it too busy in the corridors now? Yes, a shower it was then.

He made his way to the bathroom, immediately he peeled off his clothes from his wet skin and threw them far away. No one took showers at this time, he treated it like his own once had had found out. The water was on cold first, to pull the heat away from him, and numb him. Numb his arm. He put his hands against the wall letting the cold water run down his back and then he would turn around and let it go down his neck, then his torso, then his legs, all the way down till it hit the drain.

Then he had put it on hot.

He liked hot water. It felt good to feel it burn against his skin and fog up the mirrors as well as create a steam that blinded him from what had laid around him. It helped him get his mind off his dark mark too, which he despised. Just how the cold water numbed it, the hot water burned it, even if the effects were not permanent.

Heat.

It felt good.

While washing his hair, he peeked his eyes open a little to change the tempature but was met by a face, not a real one, as if it was ghost, or a reflection, as if there was someone behind him through the water. He jumped back and turned around but no one was there. The steam had fogged up most of the shower now so he waved his hands through the air, squinting through the grey.

Their face was in the water. He saw it.

He set the speed higher, to see it one more time, maybe it would appear again but it didn't. Was he hallucinating? He shook his head and wrapped his waist around a warm towel before stepping out the shower, contemplating if what he saw was real. Living in a magical world, anything could be possible.

━ ✽━ 

"Where's Pansy?" Blaise asked, whispering to Draco as Snape went over the directions.

He shrugged. "Dunno. Must be shagging someone in the closet or some sorts."

He didn't snicker, Blaise looked worried.

"What? You think she fainted or something?" Draco seemed more attentive to Snape's words then Blaise's thoughts.

"No." He fumbled with the potions tube. "Just worried. Haven't seen her since the morning."

Draco shrugged it away and convinced Blaise she was probably skipping or fooling around with another Ravenclaw. She had been for a while. He hesitated but once Snape started coming around they had now fully averted their attention to the new lesson, though none of them cared really. They were learning about the effects of the Truth Serum as a recap to fully understand the next lesson. As they opened up their materials in the enclosed dungeon, footsteps emerged, causing them to jerk their heads torwards the sound. Snape hurried to the front, it was Mcgonagall. She looked worried.

"One of the students have entered the portal. Come quickly." She ordered, scanning the room once more as if she was looking for someone. "Dismiss the students."

Snape looked back at the Slytherins and Gryffindors who had confused looks plastered on their faces. "Class dismissed. Head to your houses." He commanded as everyone started to gossip about what was going on.

Blaise looked over at Draco. "The portal? Someone from here, has gone through the portals?"

"But how?" Nott cut in as everyone rushed to their houses.

"Apparation?" Blaise suggested.

But Draco disagreed. "You can't apparate on Hogwarts grounds. I don't know how they did it. The portal is quite far." He didn't dwell on the thought too much, this would be a great oppurtunity to go work on his task.

"Should we look for Pansy? Let her know?" Theo Nott queried but Draco shook his head, trying to be alone so he could do his task. "No. I'm sure she's already there."

"Are you sure? I haven't seen her since the morning either. Have you?"

Of course Draco had saw her, right before he had taken a shower. But he shook his head, not wanting to stir more questions. How dramatic, he had thought.

"First Bell gets hexed, now someone goes through the portal? What the bloody hell is going on?" Ron Weasley whispered to the famous Harry Potter.

He shuddered at the first few words.

The Slytherins and Gryffindors made their way up to their common rooms, parting their ways. Malfoy followed Zabini, Goyle and Nott to the boys dormitory while the others settled in the common room, continuing to murmur about the latest events.

"Who is it?"

"I thought it would be Harry Potter. You know how much of an attention seeker he is."

"I bet it's a Ravenclaw. They probably thought they could easily make their way in. How silly."

"Oh but you do know how courageous Gryffindors tend to be. It's not a Hufflepuff. Weaklings."

Gossiping. Draco was a fan of it, sneaking into people's private business and exposing them. It was a hobby.

Emphasis on was.

Filch came in with Ms. Norris in his arms and started to do a head count, everyone stood in place as he counted in one go and continued to talk once he was finished. Draco Malfoy continued to go upstairs till Filch had announced a few words that had shocked the Slytherins.

"There is one person missing."

Blaise stared blankly. "Pansy. Draco, you said she would be here-"

"Well I wasn't sure- I only said she might be here."

"Then where is she? Seriously, I don't think she's shagging anyone, do you Nott?"

Draco expected Theo to agree with Draco but he only shook his head.

"Who's missing?" Filch scanned the room.

"Pansy Parkinson." Astoria Greengrass, a pureblood Slytherin who was sitting next to her sister Daphne Greengrass. "She's not in her the girls dormitory either."

"Pansy Parkinson." Filch whispered to himself, cursing a bit too. "Stay in your houses."

With that, the door slammed.

"You don't think..." Theo gulped, hs hand running through his hair.

"Think what?" Blaise sighed heavily.

"Oh bloody hell."

"Think what?" He asked again, eager to know.

"I don't want to say it. It sounds like something she would do."

"Say it for fuck's sake! You already bloody mentioned it!"

He nodded. "You don't think — that- that, she has gone through the portal...do you?"

"That's absurd." Draco scoffed. "Her? To go that far and go through a portal? To me, it just seems like a stupid hoax, she's playing a bloody prank on us."

A Slytherin had her ear pressed to the door. Others joined.

"Not everything she does is a prank Draco." Blaise rolled his eyes. "She isn't Fred or George Weasley where everyone expects something like that from them. Seriously, she's our friend." He emphasized.

"I don't understand why you are so worried. I'm sure she's fine." Draco seethed one last time before slamming the boys dormitory door behind him.

He laid on his bed.

He could hear sudden yells and shrieks from downstairs. But he was too unbothered to care.

More rumors.

How fun.

"Pansy Parkinson! It's her! She has gone through the portal!"


	4. THREE

"𝐂𝐀𝐍'𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 go to the portal headquarters?" Juliet frantically asked as her father hurridly ran down the steps. He ordered the guards to make a national announcement to set a specific curfew; six o'clock PM, Juliet didn't understand how a curfew would help if someone had entered the portal. He ignored her question, so she asked again, following him to the carriage. He unwillingly turned around and called Prince Richard to join him. How rude, she thought, but expected.

"It's more intense than that, Juliet. We don't need to see the graphs to know the parallel has been affected!" He yelled, startling her. "Richard! Get over here!"

She had never seen her father this angry. It was only a few times when he had dropped his favourite souvenir from the Duchess of France who he admirably fancied. It had shattered on the marble grounds, the Queen was rather pleased.

Her mother had followed her to the entrance of the gate as they both watched the King ride away to wherever he was headed. Prince Richard gave her a small wave which she ignored as her mother ordered her to head back inside.

She wanted to know more. Who exactly when through the portal? From what parallel did they escape from? Why? Was it a pure accident or a firm decision made on purpose?

But it seemed as if they didn't know either.

"Go to your room." Her mother pointed to the castle, specifically her balcony. "Now."

She didn't bother to argue and headed to her room, treading over the endless spiral of staircases, once she had made it, she slammed her door shut in fury. She hated that she had feared her mother, why did being a woman around this time have to be so tiring?

"Why can't anyone answer my questions? The least they could do is take me." She huffed, her corset stuck tightly to her figure so it hurt to lie down, she could feel the back of her dress soon drench in sweat if she had not taken a shower in the next five minutes.

There was no need for her to call her maids, surely she could do this on her own. Glancing out her window, her mother still stood outside. She was worried.

Good.

She peeled off her dress and untied her corset, it was the most complicated thing ever especially when you had no idea what was going on since you couldn't see; eventually, she made her way to the last knot, flinging her arms with a sigh of relief that escaped her pursed lips. Her hair was next, soft curls that were bunched up now fell loosely down to her waist.

For a moment she would have thought she would faint. It was tiring to wear these almost everyday, to impress the Prince most likely. She missed her light gowns. Specifically she missed her life before she had turned seventeen.

The sun scorched through the windows of the castle, it was unexpectedly hot today, she had set the bath water to cool before stepping in, letting the water rush over her body, immediately, tranquility and peace dominated her figure. She closed her eyes, feeling herself sink, the ends of her hair touching the water.

Some soap would do her good. Lavender. Her go-to.

She opened up the small bottle, she wasn't allowed to use more than a certain amount of pumps so every other day it would be refilled, after spreading it out on her arms, her neck and torso and her legs, she changed the water and bathed into it again. Her eyes were open this time, watching the cluster of bubbles dissolve in the foamy water.

She blinked. Hard.

And again.

Once more.

Then again, quicker this time.

Something odd happened. She saw a weird flash of green in her water. She blinked a couple of more times thinking it was maybe just the reflection of her bathroom but it was gone. Was she hallucinating? Maybe it was the heat that made her eyesight seem patchy lately, explained her headaches from earlier. Shaking her thoughts away, she continued to avert her attention to the bubbles.

A few moments later she saw it again. This time, it was a face, through the ripples she made out a colorless structure, it had a nose, a mouth, and eyes, grey ones. Never like she had seen before. She let out a shriek, jumping out of the water. Her foot had almost slip but her hands had gripped onto the rim of the bathtub fortunately.

But the face was gone. It was as if it had shown through the water, yet it looked as if there was a person looking at her from the tub instead, her hand waved through the water some more but all that was shown was the same bubbles.

She didn't want to go back in.

After changing into her robes she locked the bathroom door shut; she was paranoid that she would see it again, they had numerous bathrooms in the castle so she certainly did not mind having it kept closed for a while. But her thoughts had now shifted from the parallels to the face. She could barely remember the brief moment, the only thing she really captured visually was the eyes. Grey ones, mysterious, dark, full of despair and fright, why did a random reflection bother her so much? Maybe she was hallucinating after all. Recently, she had been seeing all sorts of things. Looking at the clock, she sighed. Her bath didn't even last fifteen minutes, immediately she felt heat hover onto her body once again.

It was just a hallucination, she kept reminding herself over and over. Just a really weird one, that was all.

After laying for a while, she felt her eyes drift and eventually close, since when was she so tired? Was it the heat? But she didn't resist the sleepy feeling, her subconcious mind had already taken over either way.

She was somewhere dark. Very dark, she wanted to be frightened, anything could pop out at the moment but she remained calm and steady. The air felt weird, not the normal air she would feel outside, but everytime she had walked forward, a wind would push her backwards, along with a wet feeling that had clinged onto her.

She looked for some sort of sign, some light or some type of cue, that would help her but it was as if she had fallen into the abyss, there was nowhere to go, nothing to see, just pitch black darkness and the loud silence that roamed her ears. For a second she wanted to close them shut with her hands, but she didn't. She resisted.

Juliet sat down. Where was she?

For a moment, she thought she should just keep walking, perhaps she would find at least something that would take her back, the dream felt too real for her, her hands clung onto her robes but she continued to walk.

And then she saw it. Colors, different shades and hues of all sorts of colors. She had seen it before recently, but where? Her subconcious mind must have been playing tricks on her because she wasn't able to think. Yet, without any hesitation, she walked towards it and put her hand through the swirling motion of the colors, her hand disappeared, as if it were invisible.

She took it back out, and then put her arm back in, then her leg, and finally her head once she was completely, to see what lied on the other side of the swarm of colors.

A castle. A large one, right in front of her, placed on an unusual shaped cliff that was so tall it went into a lake as well, her eyes scanned the large structure. Something seemed odd, different, it wasn't the castles she saw in England, it seemed as if something else lied within the walls.

She heard voices. Cheery ones.

She yelped a little when she was met by a pair of light brown eyes. A girl stood in front of her, her hair was slightly frizzy and was bunched up into a ponytail, she was wearing a school uniform, a green and silver striped tie and a black cloak over her shoulders. She didn't have time to ask her anything nor observe her much longer, because the girl had completely ignored her, and went through the little bubble she had popped her head through. Juliet went to turn around but the girl was gone.

But before she could look any further, she was woken up by a thud.

━ ✽━ 

"𝐈 𝐂𝐀𝐍'𝐓 𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐕𝐄 it's her!" Blaise scoffed, his hands were folded on the top of his head. "Seriously, is she crazy? Like is she really fucking crazy? Thinking she could just leave like that without telling any of us? I mean, bloody hell, is she trying to pull a fucking Harry Potter ?! Why-why didn't she tell us?!" He continued to ramble as he paced around, until Theo had practically forced him to sit down on his bed. They were the only three that remained in the boys dormitory, the others were still downstairs in the common room discussing the news.

"C'mon man. Maybe it's just a rumor."

"Just a rumor ? Are you bloody mental? They searched the grounds Theodore, I'm sure she would be here, it's obviously her who went." He rested his hands behind his head and laid on the bed, his feet still touching the floor. "I mean, did someone tell her to go to another parallel? Is she really that easy to trick? Never saw her as that type."

"I'm sure it was her own decision. You know how she is, all bossy and very independent witted at times." Nott suggested, but he was unsure of Blaise's response. He was fuming.

"Yeah, except when it comes to Draco. She tells him everything, asks him everything." He pointed to Draco who sat there, rolling his eyes. But Blaise continued to stare deeply into his grey colored orbs. "You didn't say anything did you?" He queried.

Draco scoffed. "Me? Say what? You think I told her to go to the other fucking parallel? What do you think I am, a Weasley?"

Blaise lingered his eyes on Draco a few seconds more but stared back right at the ceiling where his eyes initially where. "Will they find her?"

"I'm sure they will. I mean, how far could she have gotten?" Nott asked.

"I don't know...you know what she said. People have never gone in there since decades, people who did have been lost forever or have been found, dead." He gulped. "Fuck, she's a shithead."

Draco bit his bottom lip a little hardly. Not having Pansy around for a while wasn't neccesarily a bad idea. He was sure she was okay, he smirked at the thought of her absence but it had faltered when he remembered he had his task, but since classes were cancelled he decided a short nap wouldn't do any harm. He started to shift on his bed fix his pillow. He had slipped his shoes and robe off, not bothering to change anything else. Blaise and Theo cocked an eyebrow.

"What are you doing?"

"Sleeping."

"Sleeping? It's eleven in the morning, our friend could be dead and you're sleeping?"

"I'm tired. "

"I'm sure Pansy's tired of being out there too." Blaise seethed.

"It was her choice."

"She's our friend." He emphasized again, glancing at Nott who just blankly stared at the floor. Confused.

"I'm aware. Wake me up when she is found or something." He pulled his blanket over himself and started to pull the hangings around his bed but Blaise interrupted him once again.

"What if she is found dead?"

"Then she is." He answered in an obvious tone. "Is me taking a short nap going to affect if she comes back alive or not?"

"No, but you're not worried. Not even a bit."

"I'm glad you noticed." He finally had adjusted himself onto his own bed and closed his eyes. "Pathetic."

He was worried. A little. Very little.

"People, never caring about themselves." He shook his head, before drifiting off to sleep.


	5. FOUR

𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐀 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃, she had forgotten that it was a dream, in fact it seemed as if it had intertwined with her conscious mind as well since she could not tell if the portal incident was real or not. But when she had received a rather frightened look from Prince Richard, her question was answered. He seemed flustered, patches of red on his cheeks, as if he was scolded by her father which didn't happen very often. Yet when it did, it alerted Juliet that things were worse than before. Her father was never too tolerant of his temper.

The information on the person was confidential. For obvious reasons, the kingdom(s) had been silent since the curfew had been placed but one didn't have to be smart to know that there would be gossiping within the walls. Her father had come back a few hours later right before midnight to discuss some matters with the ministry who were enclosed behind the meeting room. Two large doors, sound proof walls, so no one could hear a thing. It wasn't their usual place, but whenever it was used, she could tell her father was mad.

Yet, she pressed her ear against the door. Hoping to hear anything. At least one thing, her curiosity had gotten the best of her like it always did. She had forgotten about her tight dress and the face as well as her dream. Recently her mind couldn't settle on one interest.

The door had creaked open, she had stumbled backwards but caught her balance, and then peeked through the crack of the door.

They didn't lock it.

How silly it was of them. To forget the most important thing, but she didn't question or think any further, her ear continued to point toward the interior of the room. She smiled once she heard clear voices echo, muffled voices but it was clear enough to make out the words.

"Send her back? Without any punishment? She has gone through the portal and left her parallel, did you contact the ministry?" Her father queried.

"It's hard to contact them. It will take about two weeks at time. No one has ever successfully gotten through the portal." A low voice whispered, clicking his tongue on the roof of his mouth a few times. "Unless-"

"Where is she now?"

"Unconscious. In the hospital."

It had just hit Juliet that it was a girl.

"When she wakes up, bring her to me and alert the other parallel as soon as possible. They will be facing large consequences. If the ministry decided to close the portals for good this would have never happened."

"But my lord. The other parallel would be destroyed. Of course they didn't close them for that reason." The voice said, it was lower and the tongue clicking had stopped.

"And?"

The room seemed to be silent, anytime now they would leave. It was no longer needed for the man to stay, they would be ending the short conversation any second now, so she turned away. Her question was answered, what more information could she possibly need?

Prince Richard was just around the corner when he met with her eyes. Soft brown ones she had while he had bright green ones. He had gestured her to come forward, she unwillingly did so, wondering if he could help her know a bit more than needed.

She walked over to him, a forced smile plastered on his face.

She didn't know what he would ask her. Would he even answer?

Conversations between them were short lived either way, questions and some forms of chivalry and maybe a smile here or there. But today they seemed to only speak in silence until Richard had cleared his throat, trying to make an effort to ease the tension that roamed within the awkward atmosphere.

"The parallels are good." He nodded. "There's no destruction. Your father is just disappointed that this has occurred. It's can affect the agreement."

She nodded, he was talking about the chart she had seen a few days ago. "That's good." Her teeth had moved onto her bottom lip and grasped it tightly, trying to stop herself from asking how.

But she couldn't.

"How? I thought that if a person goes through a-"

"It damages itself?" He butted in. "Hm no. It's quite odd actually. I doubt that the chart is wrong but maybe because it has only happened once. The girl- I mean the person seemed to successfully go through the portal without any hardships besides fainting midway. When she arrived, she laid unconscious again. But, we are still trying to figure out why at the headquarters."

She gulped, she regretted asking why because they had no answer. A useless conversation, it only proved that they had no chemistry or some sort of spark between them and she hated that she took notice of it. Of course he didn't, he was naive, oblivious, a man who feared her father but saw his outer appearance as his reputation. Maybe he wasn't a bad man but he didn't always have good intentions; selfish, he was selfish at times as well, everything he did was for him. She realized that her father and Prince Richard were not very different after all. So what hurt to ask more? To expand the curiosity that surrounded the depths of her mind?

"Can I see her?"

Richard didn't want to be surprised, but he was, his eyebrows both raised as if he was taken back by Juliet's boldness, he stammered, unable to form the right words. A question he didn't have an answer too, how shameful. He had already asked too many questions to the king and it hurt him even more that he couldn't answer one.

"I-" He laughed nervously but the echo had faltered. "I'm not sure it would make a difference either way. The girl, you see, is unconcious."

"Let me see her when she wakes up. It takes long to reach the other parallel doesn't it? To send messages?"

"How do you- yes. Yes it takes a bit long. I don't know if the king will allow me to let anyone see her. I'm sorry-"

"But you are the future king. At least be prepared, show it." She cleared her throat, looking away. Her mother wouldn't like her behavior but she didn't seem to care at the moment.

"Oh my lady, I would but as of now I am not king yet." He couldn't help but smile thinly, his features brightening up a bit.

"I am your future wife. Do you not want to fulfill my best wishes?" She furrowed her eyebrows a bit though she wasn't angry, it was just a trick to get her decision through.

"Okay, fine. When the person wakes up then. I'll take you but you must not tell anyone."

"Thank you." She let out a sigh of relief.

"May I ask, why do you want to see her?"

"Curiosity." She answered quite fast. "I don't leave the castle grounds a lot. We both know it. Besides, it would be nice, proper, for a princess to visit the girl. " She lied in the last bit for the sake of her reputation.

He nodded. "I see. That makes sense, yes. A to-be queen should practice her duties. I think the king would agree either way-"

"Oh don't tell him, please. Father would think I would be too frightened. But really, I am not. I'm quite fascinated not - not by the dangers of course, but more of this erm - portal idea." She laughed nervously afraid Prince Richard would see through her intentions but he only smiled a toothy grin.

"It's settled then. See you later."

" Later. I won't tell anyone. Thank you again." Without another word, she left, her dress trailing behind her.

━ ✽━ 

"𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐀𝐅𝐄." Dumbledore announced. "In approximately two weeks we will be in contact with the other parallel. For now, please enjoy your meals and do not worry about Ms. Parkinson. Further information will be given later, may you all have a splendid dinner."

The students dissolved into their private conversations, all about the same thing.

"How do they know if she is safe if they can't contact them?" Astoria queried, everyone in the table nodded except Draco.

He had a dream. A weird one.

He didn't have dreams very often, if they did they were bizarre; a side effect of stress, he had read about it. Unwillingly of course, he didn't have a soft spot for books. He had a soft spot for nothing.

But this dream. It was different, odd. He usually had dreams about memories that were altered in some sort of way, he couldn't remember any because they never had left any impact on him.

This one did.

It was dark. Scarily dark, as if he had fallen in a whole. No light, he couldn't even see his own hands in front of him. Draco Malfoy was afraid.

It was a nightmare. Not a dream, a bloody nightmare.

He was stuck, he didn't want to walk and find out what laid on the other side, he stood there shivering as if something cold was pinching him from all sides of his body. Stiff. He was going numb. It was cold, feverishly cold.

And then he saw it. A faint light. It was so faint yet it blurred his vision, but he didn't want to follow.

Curiosity killed the cat.

So he buried his face into his knees. Waiting and waiting for the dark to leave. Forgetting it was a nightmare and that his subconscious was playing rude tricks on him.

And then he woke up.

It was over.

It was finally over.

━ ✽━ 

"Pugface had to leave sometime, one way or another.." Cormac, a Gryffindor had whispered to another.

Blaise walked up to him. "Do you want to?"

He wrinkled an eyebrow. "Do I want to...what?"

"Get beaten into pulp you fucking cunt." Blaise retorted, Theo held his arms back.

Cormac scoffed. "The dog got lost from its leash. Boo hoo. I'm guessing you're her owner?"

Blaise wanted to hurt him. So bad, Draco could see it.

"Shut the fuck up." Nott suggested.

"No. But I'm sure Pugface will when she's dead."

Draco felt his fists curl.

He walked over and threw a punch at Cormac who stumbled over and hit the wall, his friend running away, leaving him on the cold ground. Draco towered over him.

"If anything, you will be dead if you don't shut the fuck up." He hissed. "Don't you dare talk about my friends like that or you will be seeing yourself in a casket. Hm? Mummy wouldn't like that would she? How would she feel that her itty bitty Quidditch player was dead?"

His nose bled.

Cormac stayed silent. He groaned as blood continued to spill over his clothes and around his mouth.

Draco walked away.

Blaise followed.

"I thought you didn't care about Pansy."

"Well it looks like I do apparently, doesn't it?" He stares before leaving the two dumbfounded. Before they could say anything else, he had walked away, shoving past the growing crowd.

He did care, a little. But he did, isn't that what mattered?

He entered the Room of Requirement.

Everyone else was ordered to go back to their houses, but why would he listen?

The Vanishing Cabinet was fixed. Yet he felt paranoid. Highly paranoid that it would be found broken and would not be able to be used. So he checked it quite often, way too often, in between classes, his way to the loo, study breaks or whenever he had a bit of free time. Whatever time he had.

Each time it worked perfectly, and he told himself it would be the last time but they were lies, because he came back. The Vanishing Cabinet would welcome him again as if it was alive, he would open the doors, put something in, an object he didn't care about; then he would wait, open the doors and it would be gone. Closed it again and it would reappear.

Two weeks till the month was over. Then there would be three more months left till the war. Till he had to kill Dumbledore. How exciting.

He wished there was a Vanishing Cabinet for him. And for him only, one that could take him anywhere besides Honeydukes in Diagon Alley, anywhere that would help him escape from his reality.

For a second he had lost hope.

But then he remembered there was one.

The portal.

What an absurd idea/thought.

Only a matter of time till it showed if he had the courage to go through it. He wasn't a Gryffindor, Saint Potter would go through with no hesitation, he thought.

Maybe when Pansy came back he would ask. She was safe. He would ask her what it was like and if it was better than this parallel he would leave. Or he wouldn't because maybe it was worse.

But what could be worse than this?


	6. FIVE

𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐃, the no named girl had finally woken up. Thankfully. Juliet was rather nervous. She knew she was the one who practically semi- forced Richard to take her to her, but it felt intrusive. What would she say? The girl had just gone through a portal, she was probably confused, wrecked, sick; it felt wrong to go and visit her. But she wanted to, so badly, though the decision was selfish, yet, she just wanted to see. Just peek at her. Now that she was thinking about it, it was as if she was talking about an animal, sure a person from another parallel was fascinating but she had no right to talk about her like that.

The girl had been given a name. The "portal girl", the "survivor", many assumed she was casting dark magic, as if magic was real, she scoffed to herself silently at the thought.

"Are you ready?" Prince Richard asked. "We don't have much time till your father comes back. We should hurry."

"Oh, yes. Sorry." She apologized, making her way out the door. She wore a robe to disguise herself, at least from popular crowds during this time.

He helped her onto the carriage. One step. Then another. Her feet trembled a bit but once she had made it her nerves had calmed down. Prince Richard had taken a seat next to her, giving a reassuring smile before ordering to leave. Her heart tickled her a little, as if that was a way to express her nervous demeanor. She constantly picked her robe and bit her tongue softly as she stared outside, watching townsfolk do their daily tasks. She wondered if the gossip had died down but highly doubted it. Her father refused her to read the morning paper; The Equinox.

"PORTAL GIRL FOUND SAFE AND UNCONSCIOUS"

Her eyes lingered at the headline until the letters got smaller and smaller to the point she wasn't able to see it. She wished to read more, Destiny Black was known to be a famous journalist, though she was known to twist certain things, she made a lot of money from doing so, yet this paper seemed as if it was toned down to be more serious. Not one smile, but more intimidating looks were plastered on peoples' faces. She gulped.

━ ✽━

Once they had arrived, she smoothed down her robe. Prince Richard offered his hand but she suggested to walk alone to make it seem not suspicious, though it wasn't because of that.

"You're here for?" An old lady sat behind a tall desk. Her hair was slid back into a firm bun as she gave a thin smile to Juliet who looked down to avoid any stares.

Prince Richard took over, causing the old lady to widen her eyes a bit. "Pansy Parkinson. Private room two hundred and four." He requested.

The old lady had stammered but bowed a little. "Oh- yes. Yes. The guard will escort you. It's a pleasure to meet you..."

Pansy Parkinson.

Odd name.

A guard had escorted them as they walked up a flight of stairs, after a few more paces, they had opened the door to room two hundred and four. A dim light hung above unlike the others that didn't have one.

Prince Richard let her in. "I'll be waiting outside. Tell me when you are ready to leave."

She gave him a small smile before walking inside. She didn't get an immediate look at the girl, there were curtains from all sides covering the bed. But she heard a low hum coming behind them. A song, she was humming a song. One she had never heard of.

"You can walk faster, you know." The girl suggested, Juliet stumbled a bit backwards but cleared her throat.

"You're awake." Her voice seemed to quiver a bit as if she was the one who had fallen ill.

"Well, of course I am. I'm assuming you wouldn't want to visit an unconcious girl." She pulled the curtains back, her back had still laid against the headboard.

The girl had light brown skin and hazel eyes that looked rather dull, her brown hair laid straight down to her shoulders. There wasn't much to her outfit besides a hospital gown. Juliet was rather surprised at her calm behavior, but what disturbed her the most was the familiarity she saw in her face. But her clouded mind avoided her from thinking so.

"You must be Pansy Parkinson."

"Yes. And you are ?"

"Juliet E-" For a second she had paused, but the girl must have not known she was a princess. Or a to-be queen. "Juliet Eclipse."

"A pretty name." She nodded, glancing down at her tall figure. "So, why are you here? I'm assuming you aren't an interviewer or a journalist because you are carrying nothing but a handbag.

Juliet walked forward. She had a complete view of the girl now. In fact, she could make out the light green specks in her eyes, she was rather beautiful from Juliet's perspective. Her eyes gazed around the small room that was rather boring as any hospital room would possess. They had fallen upon a green and silver tie, one she had seen before, it looked oddly familiar. Squinting her eyes, she walked over to the piece of clothing, touching the rough fabric.

The dream she had last night. Didn't she see this same tie? The girl. There was a girl wearing it, yes, she had remembered now. Oh, it was scarily weird indeed. She could now make out the face, Juliet had never paid attention to her silly dreams, but this one for some reason told her it would serve an important purpose.

"That's my tie. Are you alright?" Pansy had tried getting a view of Juliet's face but couldn't.

"You were in my dream." She blurted suddenly, quickly clamping a hand over her mouth, regretting her words.

Pansy cocked an eyebrow. "I was...what? " A soft laugh escaped her pursed lips moments later.

"Sorry. Ignore me. I didn't mean to say that."

"I was in your dream?" The girl scoffed lightly. "That's not possible. You have to see someone in prior to have someone in your dream."

Juliet knew that was true. She wanted to avoid the topic, but she had brung it up even if it was an accident.

"But I saw you. You were wearing a green tie. This same one. A black cloak and you went through this weird thing. Oh! And behind you, behind you there was this weird, odd looking castle." She rambled before biting her tongue to put it to a stop.

"I think you have mistaken me for someone else. There are many people with green ties with me, at least in a place like this." She was now looking through the window. "I haven't gotten much of a view, but I can tell ties exist in this parallel. Yes?" She looked rather concerned for Juliet.

Who went through the portal again?

Juliet responded with a nod. "My apologies. I don't mean to be so informal."

"Oh, no worries. At least you're not a journalist, unless you're a spy..."

"Oh, no. No." She shook her head. "It's been a long time since I have been outside so I may have forgotten how to actually socialize."

Juliet let out a small laugh but Pansy just raised her eyebrows in confusion.

"Nevermind then. I'll leave you to rest." She gave her a thin smile but Pansy tugged on her dress robes.

"Don't you want to know why I changed portals?"

She looked back at the brown haired girl who had now sat up straight, her back no longer resting against the headboard.

"Oh-"

"I must tell you. Everyone is asking me how, and not why. Take a seat." Pansy pointed to the edge of her bed as if she was the host welcoming a guest.

"I went to the portal to escape my life. Actually, I didn't just do it for me, I did it for others too."

Pansy then looked into Juliet's brown eyes, as she felt a sharp pain emerge in the back of her head. She clenched her jaw, and held the back of her head tightly, seriously, what was wrong with her today?

"You see," Pansy continued to stare, the pain had grown worse second by second, she wanted to look away, but she couldn't. "I know not everyone is happy in their current parallel. I am certainly not."

Juliet wanted to scream.

Just then, the pain had stopped.

"I wanted to create a glitch between the parallels."

Juliet blinked a couple of times to adjust her vision, she didn't know what occurred, but it felt as if Pansy's eyes were piercing through her mind, as if they were searching for answers. But now, her words had formed within her head.

"A glitch?"

"Mhm. I'm doing it for me, but also my friend. And, you know the best part? You get to be a part of my plan." Pansy's face had now possessed a smirk, she no longer had bright eyes, but more dull ones. "How perfect. A coincidence? I think not."

"Me? I'm sorry, I don't understand."

"Oh but you will. You're a princess aren't you? You're about to get married four months from now to the Prince Richard who awaits your hand, in fact he's waiting for you outside right now. In fact, you're dreading the marriage, you don't fancy him. Do you? "

Juliet eyebrows furrowed, how did she know all of this? Instead of answering, she rose from her sear angrily. "How dare you assume such things?"

"Answer me, Princess Juliet. Do you wish to marry Prince Richard, and become the Queen of England?"

"You are not one to intrude in another's business. I must call the King-"

"Your father? Won't be necessary. I can make you lose your memory at any moment. Answer my question truthfully Juliet. This bargain I am requesting will be helpful to you. But for now, you must answer my question truthfully. Do you wish to marry Prince Richard and become the Queen of England as well?"

Juliet gulped. Lose her memory? How?

"I am calling the-"

"Do you wish to marry him? Or-"

"You are acting very obnoxious-"

"Just answer the question. I saw your bitter expression when he proposed to you."

"Doc-"

"Answer me Juliet Eclipse."

"Why you-!"

"Answer me!"

A smidge of silence had ruptured the atmosphere.

"No. Okay? I don't. Now, please, stop bothering me! What are you going to do, tell the King? Expose me? How do you even know such things-"

But Pansy Parkinson only smiled brightfully, confusing the princess.

"See? How hard was that? Not much, eh?" The girl was no rummaging under her pillow, and took out a long piece of wood that was shaped like a stick. A neat one.

It was carved perfectly, a button shaped bottom, and a pointed top, to her it looked nothing more than a toy, but Pansy held it within her dainty fingers as if it were a prized possession., smiling at Juliet who flinched.

"Oh don't worry. I won't poke you or anything. This stick?" She was now twirling it. "It's not a stick. It's a wand. I'm a witch."

Juliet let out a small gasp, she gripped the edge of the bed.

"I know. But are we really surprised? The other parallels could have something that another parallel doesn't. You are a muggle. How disappointing, I was expecting...aliens or some sort?"

"A- a what? Should I call the doctor? I think you are unwell-"

"Oh no. Juliet, please, allow me." Pansy suggested, then pointed the wand to a pot. She balanced the wand between her fingers, as her eyes stared at the pot on the windowsill. "Wingardium Leviosa."

For a few seconds nothing had happened, then the plot had risen up in the air.

The princess believed she would faint any moment now, the only thing that kept her sane was the blinding sunlight that had reached the hospital window. Her fingernails had seemed to make their way to her palms now, digging into her sweaty skin. She gulped, breathing deeply.

She lowered her wand, watching the pot lower itself as well.

"See? I'm a witch. Would you like a go?" She offered her wand but Juliet declined.

"I-"

"I know. It's a lot to take in. You are actually the first person to know. Since you are part of my plan...I believe it would be best to tell you first. Did your head hurt a few minutes ago? Of course it did, why am I even asking? It was actually magic too, I performed Legilimency on you, the power to go through someone's mind. You did tolerate it very well for a first timer. Nonetheless, that's how I knew you were a princess, a depressed one actually."

Juliet was furious. She no longer cared that Pansy Parkinson was a witch, she had risen from her chair and snatched her handbag. She was more angered at the fact that she had used her magical capabilities to intrude into her personal life. All this time she was worrying that she would be doing it instead.

"You- I'm telling my father about you. He's already not happy about having an intruder enter our parallel, along as a witch. And to use your magical powers on me? You are going to face large consequences from this."

Without looking back, she headed for the door, her hand reaching the silver knob.

"I'm giving you one night to think. Do you really want to become a married princess, or even a queen at seventeen years young? Don't you want to live as a child much longer? Obviously you have a choice, but I chose you because I can see you want freedom. I know you don't want to be married."

She had opened her mouth, but closed it seconds later as Pansy continued to talk.

"I have a friend. Back at my parallel, he wants another life. I can tell. I performed Legilimency on him as well, though I shouldn't have...either way, I know he wants another life as well. He hates his life, he wishes to live differently."

"Get to the point." Juliet was now twisting the handle of the door.

"Alright, alright. I say, every other day, for these past four months, you will be able to switch places with his body. You get to experience his life, but also another world, and he will be able to live your life, through your body, in your parallel. For four months straight. And at the end, maybe he can help you escape your marriage and maybe you can help him in- actually I will leave that as a surprise."

Juliet jerked her head around. "Are you bloody insane? Do you hear yourself? I'm getting a nurse."

"I told you I went through the portal to go create a glitch. This glitch was made to help him and you. Dr- I mean, the boy does not know about it, but I'm sure he won't mind doing it. You can live like him, for four months. A wizard. You can make friends, learn different things, unlike your muggle- I mean, normal princess stuff. You can live again, as a different person, just through a different body."

She had now opened the door.

"Wait! Or, you can replace me. You can still be yourself, you don't have to switch bodies, and at the same time you can help my friend as well. You can either switch bodies with him for four months, or start your new life in the other parallel, though the first option is much easier...either way, any choice is compatible. Switching bodies is the easier one but of course, you don't need to choose it."

Was Juliet dreaming? Maybe a nightmare?

"I know I sound mental Juliet. But think about my offer. It doesn't hurt to take risks, and from what I have gathered from your mind, you haven't taken any. But you want to. You want to live, you want friends, you want a family, not a kingdom. You want to learn, but for your own purpose. You want freedom and if you agree to this bargain, I can give you that." Pansy let out a sigh. "I will give you one night to decide. Come back tomorrow around this time, if you decline that is alright, but you won't get an opportunity like this ever again."

Juliet had now left, closing the door and leaving Pansy alone once again.

But Pansy's words seemed to roam her mind for the rest of the day.


	7. SIX

𝐖𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐔𝐏 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 a thud, Juliet woke up frantically to her door, her vision was a bit blurry from her tossing last night all over the bed. She in fact could not sleep a bit, the best she had got was two hours until the sun had reached her window. Pansy's words had gotten to the best of her mind. Opening the door slightly, her eyes peeked through the visible halls, searching for the noise.

"How dare you take her?"

"I-"

Her father's voice was muffled but she could make out the low whisper. It sounded like Prince Richard but something told her that her mother was near as well.

"I told you she should stay away from that girl. She is a witch! A person from another parallel! Imagine if that girl had hexed her!" He grunted.

Juliet seemed to freeze at that moment, her blood ran cold under her skin as she gulped down her guilt. A witch? He already knew? She bit her lip in frustration, but continued to listen.

"She has asked me herself. To take her."

The guilt seemed to be choked back out at that moment.

"She asked you to take her?"

"Y—yes. She was interested in the portal, so I took her."

"That bloody git. You...you—"

"Honey. Calm down." Her mothers voice whisper echoed through the hall, she had never heard her be this calm with her. "Richard, ask for forgiveness and promise us you won't do anything without our permission again. As long as you aren't king, only when you are is when you have control over her."

Juliet gasped a little, control? She wasn't a device nor a toy, she was human. A person, someone with her own wills and goals, not just a little puppet for a Prince Richard to play with.

"You're right madam. Please my lord, forgive me for betraying you. I shall not repeat this mistake and if the princess asks for an order I must pass it by you till I am king. Forgive me."

Her father took a deep sigh before giving a slight nod, Prince Richard picked his head up.

"You are forgiven, but repeat this mistake and you shall be punished. Your father would not be proud of this."

Without another word, her father started walking towards her room, she closed the door shut, sliding down the door as her breathing grew rapidly, her heart beat beneath her chest as she cursed underneath her breath at Prince Richard for ratting her out.

She heard her mothers footsteps dissolve into the air. Of course, she had left again, meaning her father would be lecturing her.

A knock. Louder and louder each time.

"Juliet. Open the door, we need to talk."

She sighed heavily, if she pretended to sleep, her father would leave, right?

Oh, how wrong. How sadly wrong.

Her father had picked the lock and jammed knob open, causing Juliet to stumble over, immediately watching her father's shadow peer over her. She gulped, avoiding to turn around and face his eyes. Cold, blue eyes that had never shown any affection to her.

"Turn around Juliet. Now."

She did. Slowly, her head turned, her eyes still glued to the floor.

"Look at me."

She did. Sitting on the ground, her heart skipped beats as she made eye contact with the fellow king, her eyes started to blur, she couldn't cry. Not now.

He was furious, a thin expression, as his eyebrows furrowed towards his eyes, his hands were curled into fists, and she could tell he was fuming from what he had just found out. Her bottom lip quivered, she was unable to form words to protect herself. Perhaps, it was too late. It was too late, his hand was right near her face, coming low, it would meet her soon.

A hard slap hit her cheek, her face jerking to the left. She could feel her father's handprint sting her face badly. Her hand trailed over the burning sensation that had left patches of red on her skin, the place went numb as a warm buzz took over the feeling, she cringed in pain. It had been long since she had been hit by her father. A slap.

"For a princess, you don't act like one. What a shame. How dare you go against my orders? Didn't you learn your lesson last time?"

Last time.

But the last time was two years ago. And last time wasn't as bad as this.

She tried to choke out words, anything, but she could only hear sobs forming from her mouth, she was going to cry any second now, she bit her tongue to make it stop. Why did she talk so much?

"I'm doing this because you are my daughter. You do not go and speak to others from different parallels. I'm doing this to protect you."

Protection? Didn't he say that before? What protection could she possible need? She was seventeen. And getting married. Just when she thought she could be capable of making her own decision, her father had made her marry a man who could not even be trusted.

Déjà vu. A reministic feeling had blurred her mind.

How many more times would she have to feel this?

She didn't know.

She lost count.

━ ✽━ 

"I'm not switching bodies with this random boy." Juliet retorted, Pansy only laughed at her distraught expressions. She was chewing on a crumpet and drank some water from a cup. It was seven at night when she had arrived to the hospital, Pansy seemed much better, but had spent thirty minutes just talking.

"It amazes me how I have you one night to think about the bargain yet you decline it either way."

Juliet flushed in embarrassment. "I'm asking for an alternative."

"An alternative?"

"Yes. Anything. An alternative that doesn't involve us switching bodies. He can still visit my parallel but and I can go to yours but we can stay in our own bodies. Didn't you say there was a second option?"

"Are you scared he's a perv?"

She rolled her eyes.

"Now that you mention it, it's quite creepy. Remember the second option I offered? Yeah that one. But I doubt it will work. Takes a lot of precision, time and effort for it to be successful—"

"What is it?" Juliet queried.

"Pipe down will you?" Pansy yawned. "It requires something with me. I thought about it, but I thought you might not want to give in-you see,it involves..."

"Can you just tell me?"

"Alright, alright. Patience Juliet. As I was trying to say, back at my parallel, we are able to make potions. These sorts of things can make you do anything. They can make you tell the truth, can make you become obsessed with someone, poison you, I hope you get the gist." Juliet nodded, cuing for Pansy to go on. "Well, we have something called the Polyjuice potion. What it exactly does is make you look like another person. Only looks wise, not personality or anything. It's a temporary effect, which is why I didn't want to do it."

Juliet didn't seem to catch on but after thinking hardly she widened her eyes.

"You want to look like me? In this parallel?"

"Exactly." Pansy snapped. "Remember I told you how bored I was in this life? Specifically in my parallel? Well, this is perfect. I can take your place for four months as a princess and live like royalty while you—"

"I have to look like you?"

"Merlin's beard. When you say it like that, it's as if I am ugly. No. You are not going to look like me. You are going to be a new student. I'll create a fake background for you, and all you need to do is go through the portal and act as if you are a new student taking my place. I'll make you a pureblood who was born from the states — but lives in England for her whole life hence your accent."

Juliet was confused by all the terms. "But — if I take your place, and you take mine using the Poly potion-"

"The Polyjuice potion."

"The Polyjuice potion." Juliet continued. "Then what will happen to the real you? Everyone will think you're me and aren't your parents going to be worried? Won't they look for you?"

"Juliet, I wouldn't leave my parallel if I loved my parents, I made this decision regarding the circumstances on my own thoughts which is also why I didn't want you to look like me at school. Not only that but I think you would ruin my reputation too. But if you agree to this method you have to promise me one thing."

"Which is?"

"Since we are not switching bodies you can't help my friend physically, so you will have to befriend him, become his ally and help him through. Right now he's facing a very hard time. Which is why I will make you a pureblood."

"And what exactly is that?"

"Oh muggles." She let out a sigh. "A pureblood means you come from a family that had magical capabilities. Meaning your family is pure and has no mudbloods — mudbloods are quite the opposite, they are muggle born meaning their parents do not have the power to cast magic."

Juliet understood now why Pansy called her a muggle. She cringed at the word mudblood as if it were a slur.

"Do not associate yourself with mudbloods, it will ruin your reputation, they are a disgrace to the wizarding world. Now, if you were in my parallel and you had no magical powers I would hate you. So hate them as well."

But she declined. "I can't do that — I don't even know them."

"Exactly. You don't need to know them, you just need to know their blood. Or any matter how friendly or intelligent they are, if they have bad blood, stay away. Oh and one more thing. The Weasleys, they are a pureblood like you, red hair and everything. They're easy to spot, however do not associate yourself with them either. You see," she whispered. "They like muggles. Mudbloods. Their father also works with muggle stuff, meaning he studies the odd things you guys use for daily practices. Oh and they're poor."

Juliet scoffed. "What does being poor have to add onto this exactly?"

"Oh bloody hell! All pureblood families are wealthy, they aren't! And you know they have like seven kids! It's absurd! Only time will tell when another ginger will pop out."

But Juliet didn't understand Pansy. She always longed for a large family, one full of cheers and laughter, if anything she wanted to befriend the Weasleys.

"I think that's it. You will know about Saint Potter soon."

Juliet had given in. She couldn't do it. She couldn't commit her life into having a kingdom, into being married, into having responsibilities along with foreign nations. She just couldn't. She wanted freedom, and Pansy was able to provide that, even if it was temporary.

This would be better. She would help the boy as well.

Yeah, it wouldn't be hard.


	8. SEVEN

𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐍 missing for a week and a half now, Draco sat silently in the study hall, his figure slumped against the table, his elbows trying their best to prop him up.

Streaks of brown had passed his sight, he looked up to an upset looking Theo, his tie was untucked and his collar messy, Pansy wasn't there to fix it.

It was rumored that the messages through the portal were more than halfway there, they had all acquired a bit of hope since then. But it wasn't visible to the naked eye, perhaps it was buried deep into their subconscious.

He didn't talk to Theo much during Study Hall. Navigating through the crowded corridors, he pushed through the students, making his way to the Slytherin common room.

The door slammed shut, other Slytherins were always startled from Draco's presence but that didn't stop them from making their way out of his.

The boys' dormitory was always messy in the mornings, the boys had never bothered to clean their beds except for a few, surprisingly Draco was one of them. It was only because he never slept, his sleep schedule was nonexistent at this point.

He tried again. To sleep.

Tucking himself in, the corners of the bedsheet lay under his legs as he closed his eyes. Skipping Herbology wasn't necessarily a burden from his tasks, it was a class he didn't care much about either way.

The clock ticked time away. But he didn't get any further then making up scenarios in his head, ones that he could never live. Hang out with his friends at Honeydukes without worrying about the task. Playing quidditch, he even missed going to classes at times.

He got up helplessly again, with despair every time. He was convinced that he would never have any time to actually rest, shamefully he made his way down the stairs.

Astoria gave him a small wave. He ignored her, she must have noticed how terrible he looked. His bags seemed to deepen and adapt a raw color and he must have lost weight too. His clothes fit him loosely around his torso.

And he was cold. All the time.

He left the Slytherin common room, the other Slytherins had dissolved into their own conversations once again. He was rather mad that they always talked behind his back. They were afraid, his own house mates were afraid of him.

His hands balled into fists, a common gesture he would make when he was frustrated or angry. A repetitive one too.

Blaise greeted Draco into Herbology as Professor Sprout shook her head once again, he scoffed. It was better late than never.

His eyebrows were pointed upwards when he had a pile of pages handed over to him by the short stature in front of him. Missing work he had never caught up on. He wanted to argue, say he couldn't do it, but he didn't have a valid excuse. Only Snape understood why he missed classes, though he still urged him to do his work to pass the O.W.L.S.

"You never do your work." Blaise pointed, his gloves were soiled in dirt. "You're lucky Sprout ain't making you do all of it physically, and on paper instead."

He shoved the papers in his bag, not bothering to take care of it's wellbeing. He couldn't even do it for himself.

A small yawn escaped his lips. He blinked a couple of times to adjust to the weird lighting in the greenhouse, Professor Sprout was eyeing him slightly again, he groaned silently as he flipped through the pages. She continued to talk once he did.

How much longer till it would be over?

━ ✽━ 

𝐉𝐔𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐅𝐀𝐑 from enthusiastic. Today was the day. The day where everything would change.

She had acquired all her belongings, her toothbrush, clothes she had to wear. She learned about Hogwarts through Pansy's mail. Though it was hard contacting her, it was successful. Juliet was never one to read as much but learning about Hogwarts was simply fascinating enough to urge her to live the life itself.

She was tired, last night she stayed up just reading about Transfiguration, a hard class it was, but it was better than learning how to walk with a "feminine" posture. She licked her chapped lips softly, scanning the potions book.

Her fingers traced over the "P" section, searching for the word "Polyjuice" but there wasn't one. She looked in between the lines and the back, hoping to find the origins or any sort of clue but there was nothing. She didn't even know the ingredients that were in it.

Her fingers twisted the loose ends of her hair.

Pansy asked her to cut some. Just a few strands. She counted to ten.

Ten times.

One hundred hairs. She gave Pansy one hundred hairs, she didn't know when to stop. But when Pansy sent a letter telling her why she had sacrificed so many of her brown strands, she knew did it wrong.

It was quite obvious that her hair was one of the ingredients that were needed in the potion. After all Pansy was turning into her.

She wondered how Pansy would handle her "princess" and "queen" like duties. She didn't know much about Pansy, but when she had learned that being "poor" was a bad thing, she didn't necessarily develop any trust within her.

Was it okay to leave a kingdom like this in her hands? A witch? Was Pansy even allowed to use magic in her parallel?

But her mind was occupied by the roaming thoughts of wanting to sleep.

Juliet tucked away her "belongings" (they were Pansy's) under her bed, a place where her maids were forbidden to look at. She kept all sorts of things there. Rubbish mostly.

But "rubbish" had a sentimental value to it. Which was why she kept all of them.

A knock had interrupted her thoughts, she jerked her head to the door.

"Mail for Princess Juliet Eclipse"

She frantically got up, shaking her dress so the sticky folds would fall down and cover her legs. She opened the door, thanking the man and closing it, a thin envelope laid in the palms of her hand.

She teared it open, revealing Pansy's words.

Juliet,

At six in the morning today, I'm taking the potion. I think I have made it correctly. The ingredients that were harvested underneath the full moon were just mixed in.

Bring all of your belongings. There's no going back after four months. Surely I'm not going there either for you.

When you enter Hogwarts, you will have a different family, and you will be a new student. Make sure to be placed in Slytherin, the Sorting Hat will do that for you. It's a bit late in the year, so adjust quickly. Make up a story on why you came here.

That's all. I'll be in your bed tomorrow, and hopefully you will be in mine.

Pansy.

Juliet folded the letter back to its original appearance and placed it next to her. Pansy was never specific.

Nonetheless, she would make sure to fulfill her task and live her life at Hogwarts before she had to go back. A thin smile was plastered on her face, it twitched a bit too, she was nervous.

Six o'clock it was.

━ ✽━ 

Pansy held up the vial. She cringed at the nasty colored liquid.

"The things I do for others." She sighed.

"You do it for yourself too." Juliet retorted, hugging her belongings to her chest, afraid they would leave.

"Okay. Here goes nothing. Don't freak."

She swallowed down the thick liquid in one go, shuddering at it's weird taste and shaking her head in response. Of course it had tasted bad, Juliet thought, but what made her more afraid was the fact that she had to make these potions at Pansy's parallel.

More specifically, Hogwarts.

A frown had appeared on Juliet's face, but moments later it had drastically changed.

Her expression was the definition of "you won't believe it when you see it."

Because she saw herself.

"Calmer reaction than expected." Pansy croaked. "You're lucky we sound a bit alike. Voices don't change. Only appearances."

She gulped in response. "Bloody hell."

"I feel weird." Pansy looked down at her hospital gown. "Ah, we should also switch clothes. I'll get my uniform. Don't wear the tie, remember, you didn't get sorted into your house yet."

Julier nodded reluctantly, stripping down as Pansy did the same, behind the curtain. They grabbed the clothes and put them on simultaneously, Juliet shrugged a couple of times to adjust to the word fitting, it wasn't perfect.

But Pansy was looking as elegant as ever, though it was Juliet's face.

"Okay, this is really creeping me out." Juliet murmured, "I'm like staring at a mirror."

"Oh good." Pansy sighed. "It's supposed to be that way."

She tied up "her hair" into a ponytail after conjuring a rubber using her wand.

"Oh bollocks. You need a wand as well."

"Oh."

"Take mine."

"What? I can't. People will be asking why I have the wand of a missing girl."

"Oh right." Pansy stated, giving a nervous laugh to shake her stupidity off.

"So? What will I do?"

Pansy twirled her wand around. "Ollivander will know you aren't a real witch..."

"Who?"

"The man who makes the wands." She bit her lip, thinking of a solution. She then handed her wand to Juliet who flinched at the sudden gesture.

"Try it. Try the spell."

"M- me?"

"Who else is in the room?" Pansy queried annoyingly before shoving the carved wood in her hands.

Juliet gripped it loosely.

"W-what should I do?"

"Point to the pot, on the windowsill."

It was the same one from days ago.

"Now say. Win-gar-di-um, le-vi-o-sa."

The wand shook in Juliet's hand. For a second she had forgotten she was talking to Pansy, it felt as if she was taking orders from herself now that Pansy looked like her.

"W-wingardium leviosa." She pointed.

Nothing happened.

Then just seconds later, the pot had risen on it's own.

Juliet widened her eyes in astonishment, the wand fell on the ground as the pot shattered on the ground.

"Juliet!" Pansy whisper shouted, picking up her wand. "That was great. You're a natural!"

"What does it mean?"

"That technically means, if you were in my parallel, you would be a witch. Fantastic."

"So I can get a wand?"

"Indeed. Tell your parents you lost your wand, and you need to go get another."

"O-okay." Juliet felt dizzy, the words spilled out of Pansy's mouth so easily. "How exactly did you make my parents?"

"Oh Juliet. Don't you know? In parallels, your families exist there as well. I thought I would have to make a fake background for you, but turns out, you are a part of the sacred twenty eight, meaning you come from a pureblood family. Your family might act different, but it's not much of a change."

"S-so you're telling me...I have a family there, just like this one?" She stammered.

"Not just you. Everyone does, including me, no one bothers looking for them, because of the portal."

"That's weird."

"You mean that's a relief. For a moment I thought I would have to make a birth certificate for you. That's why I told you switching bodies would be much easier-"

"I'm not switching bodies."

"I know." Pansy retaliated, looking at the clock.

7:33

"Oh dear. We need to go. You need to go."

"Already?"

"Yes. Before the sun rises. I know there's hours left but you need time to adjust. Do you remember what I told you?"

Juliet nodded. "I'll end up in Dumbledore's office, with my parents. They will enroll me into Hogwarts, and in the Great Hall I will be sorted into Slytherin, and only Slytherin."

"Good. I've taught you well. Do you still recall his name?"

"Yes. Draco Malfoy."

"Splendid. Are you ready?"

"I think."

"Is there anything I need to know about your life besides Richard being a bastard?"

"Uh no, just don't get my father angry, and my mother as well."

"Okay." Pansy didn't bother questioning any further. "Are you sure you're ready?"

Pansy met her brown eyes, peering into them. Juliet took a deep breath. This wasn't a dream.

"Yes. I am."

"Good luck, I hope you enjoy your new life." She smiled.


	9. EIGHT

𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐋𝐘 from the clouded sky. The sun hid behind, afraid to come out, but Juiet could use any sense of warmth right now. A chilly feeling tingled her spine.

She bit her tongue softly, waiting in Dumbldore's office. Adrenaline built up within her body.

She didn't even get to meet her parents like she thought she would. She was slightly wet from the windy storm outisde but the headmaster welcomed her as if she wasn't.

Juliet was wearing Pansy's cloak, and she removed the Slytherin patch as she travelled through the portal, leaving a weird imprint on it. She pulled her hair forward to hide it from Dumbledore's eyes. 

But the old bearded man seemed to see right through her, for a second she was afraid that he would catch her.

Yet, he only gave her a thin smile, one that she found rather odd. His glasses that were balancing in the bridge of his nose which avoided the ability for her to get a reflection of herself.

"Are you ready to be sorted?"

Sorted. Right, the sorting hat.

"Yes. I think so."

Her mind was preoccupied by Pansy's commands. She didn't realize how crucial they were until now.

No matter how much she wanted to be placed somewhere else. She favored Hufflepuff. 

Her mind thought otherwise.

Slytherin. Slytherin. Slytherin.

Green and silver, full of snakes, a bit more modernized than other houses. Citrus smell. 

A platinum haired, tall boy named Draco Malfoy. Her friends Blaise and Theo, she couldn't remember the last names, but it was better that way. She hadn't met them yet.

Red blazing hair she was bound to stay away from.

"Dinner will be served at the Great Hall soon. Tomorrow morning, the prefects will show you around. Right now enjoy yourself." Dumbledore smiled, jotting some information down with a quill before gesturing her way out. 

Professor Mcgonagall leading the way.

Making her way to the Great Hall, she stared in awe at the high ceilings. Though her castle had them she was fascinated by the unique design that possessed the walls. Tall chandeliers, gigantic doors. She looked up, the lights reflecting off her eyes.

The aroma of all different types of food. Her stomach rumbled in response. She could smell fresh pumpkin pie, as well as roasted chicken. 

She was here.

But what made the scenery seem more realistic was the cheerful students she heard around her, she immediately became nervous again, as eyes peered over her. 

A small smile had appeared on her face. Behind her lips. 

Stares, heavy ones, she was used to being the center of attention. Surrounded by pompous women and old men, tiny children who had looked up to her.

When in reality there was nothing to look upon.

Déjà vu, again, but this one she admired.

An old worn hat stood on a stool in front of her as the old man announced her circumstances. She heard through one ear, and listened at the gossiping through the other.

"She has nice hair."

"Is that a hand me down robe?"

"She looks quite poor."

She ignored them. It was common. 

"Juliet Eclipse." Mcgonagall pointed to the empty stool, holding the hat in the other hand.

Beads of sweat accumulated on her forehead. She needed a shower. Maybe food too.

Slytherin. 

Slytherin. 

Slytherin.

She couldn't mess up this one. It was only a one time event, one that would determine her future here with Draco Malfoy.

Her back cringed at the feeling of the hat that possessed her head. Ticklish feelings all over but not ones she could laugh at.

"Mmmm, new student?" The hat tittered, she could feel it wobble.

Please, Slytherin.

"Slytherin? Are you sure? It's almost as if you're from another...world."

Juliet gulped...how? How did it...know? But the hat didn't answer, it only hummed a bit more.

"Well then. I sense ambition. Though you would do quite well in Gryffindor...Slytherin!"

She let out a sigh of relief as the hat was taken off her head, magic was indeed odd.

She expected the process to be much longer but the hat was never wrong. Magic. Of course it was fast. She wanted to even conjure her own hat to help her make her own decisions. But now, she was glad it was over. It reminded her of Pansy seeping through the realms of her mind.

She wondered how Pansy was doing.

The Slytherin table welcomed her to the clique clapping as they greeted their new member. Green and silver stripes ties and black robes over. Some were wearing knitted sweaters.

She didn't have time to examine the faces. Her mind was occupied by the hair colors, slightly curled brown hair, dark brown hair, and platinum blonde colored hair as well. The top three.

But one was the easiest one to spot.

Platinum blonde. It was almost white as snow. His skin color was just as close.

Deep breaths.

She had to be bold. She had to be an ally with the boy.

━ ✽━ 

Juliet couldn't get one glance from Draco Malfoy who didn't bother to introduce himself.

Astoria Greengrass' voice was the only thing she heard besides the continuous clattering of knives and forks.

She didn't want to seem shy so she smiled occasionally at the others, conveying she was being attentive. A sense of similarity rushed over her, dinners with Prince Richard was like this.

But her mind pondered upon whether she would ever have the ability to look at Draco Malfoy. 

To get a proper look, so she remembered him, besides his odd bright hair.

It stood out in a crowd. She would have plenty of chances to look at him. His pale skin was also another contributing factor, as well as his few rings that clutched his dainty fingers.

Make him your friend.

So she tried. Tried at the least. Introduced herself to Theo Nott who seemed to give a forced smile, possibly upset that she was "taking" Pansy's spot.

Blaise had fallen asleep.

She built up the courage to talk to Draco. Told him her name. But he only looked up at her for a moment before averting his eyes back to his untouched food.

But she had a glimpse of his deep eye bags. Did he have insomnia?

He didn't eat anything either. Not even the water in his goblet was touched.

Did he have trouble eating? Maybe both.

She didn't know. He seemed stubborn from the start. Or maybe he was worried, worried about whatever Pansy had mentioned he had trouble with.

He itched his arm quite often too. She was never one to be observant but to become his friend these protocols had been a bit necessary.

Did he have a rash?

She was confused. Her mind was blurred from her thoughts because when Theo asked her a question she almost had forgotten how to talk.

But she answered according to her circumstances in her new home. Her new life specifically. It wasn't a hard one either way.

Bollocks. Why did everything already seem to be so much more complicated when things had just begun?

The atmosphere around her must have asked the same question.

Despite the enthusiastic and nonchalant presence she once sensed coming in, she could now feel a gloomy one take over, differentiating the two vibes.

Did she make the wrong decision?

No. She wanted this. She wanted a new life.

She couldn't let her mind convince her it was a bad decision, she wanted friends and freedom. Not ownership and money. Not a husband.

She had just realized how comfortable Pansy's clothes were on her. Her back didn't feel like it had been squeezed inside a bottle.

And she could eat. Anything she wanted without worrying about her mother's remarks.

Juliet suddenly felt grateful.

She continued to dig into her food, letting the numerous flavors dissolve into her tongue, she was eating manically and probably earned a couple of stares but she was sure that everyone ate like this their first day here.

Maybe she was just an old memory for them.

She wanted to be a new one to Draco Malfoy.

━ ✽━ 

𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐎 𝐃𝐈𝐃𝐍'𝐓 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 the figure in front of him.

His chin rested upon his hand, he counted twenty four peas on his plate. Fresh green ones.

Twenty four days till the next meeting at the Manor.

What a coincidence. He hated them. Loved them before but now they were a daily reminder on how miserable his life was.

His eyes averted back to the girls plate.

He didn't like her because he envied her. She ate like a maniac but the way she devoured her food made Draco want to do the same.

It reminded him of his first meal at Hogwarts.

One he missed, one he wished to revisit and tell his younger self to savor the food; because in a few years he wouldn't be eating it like this again.

He would be counting how many peas laid on his plate instead.

How shameful. How hopeless.

He hated his self pity. He used to pity others, but now, it was as if they had more than him after all.


	10. NINE

𝐈𝐅 𝐀𝐍𝐘𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆, 𝐒𝐇𝐄 was fifty percent sure that she wouldn't be able to resist befriending the blazing redheads that stood a couple of feet away her. The human interaction amongst them was undeniable; it was clear they were a close knitted family.

She would occasionally find herself staring at them, and with no doubt she would remind herself how unlucky she was for not being born into a large family.

Especially ones like them. She wondered if there were more back at their home. Wondered how their parents were like.

Juliet mixed up Fred and George quite often, refusing to meet their eyes, afraid one of them would prank her since they were known for their outrageous tricks.

She had met one of them however, Percy Weasley, a prefect that showed her around the castle, which she adjusted quickly to since her environment back at home was quite similar.

She admired the Astronomy Tower and the Slytherin common room, she was a fan of high locations and dark colors, colors that she usually wanted to wear back at home, colors her mother labeled as informal or inappropriate.

She exited the sunken room and climbed up the stairs. She had two days to unpack and gather her materials and buy her supplies, and would be ready to pick her wand as of tomorrow. She had gotten used to the moving paintings and the roaming ghosts, but it was only because she didn't want to seem "foreign".

Draco Malfoy pushed against her. He was too busy for her to stand in front of the doorway and seep into her own thoughts.

His behavior was what you called, arrogant. She learned overtime that he was quite a loner, and could tell Theo and Blaise were the closer two of the trio.

Maybe that was an advantage.

Following him to Transfiguration, she was rather excited for the class while the others seemed to reflect opposite emotions, gossiping that Mcgonagall would probably assign more papers today. 

Juliet didn't mind, she hadn't gone to school for years. Knew basic math and English but after that it was all about mannerisms and how to create foreign relations.

She then suddenly wondered if she had to know what they had learned from the previous year to do well this year. She gulped, her eyes peered onto her schedule.

Did they expect her to know everything? Probably.

She hoped Pansy was here to help her any moment now. Just this once.

Assigned seats were administered in Transfiguration, Juliet ended up with a Hufflepuff, perhaps this was her chance to ask how her preferred house was like.

Though the hat did say she would have fit Gryffindor.

But for the rest of the duration, Mcgonagall didn't let them talk once. She went over the syllabus explaining the importance of upcoming exams and homework, including class rules. Odd words had occupied her mind, she would have to go over some.

She assigned a paper after all, earning groans. Some just rolled their eyes, expecting it or *told you so* looks that reflected off of each other.

At the end of Transfiguration, the old witch had come over to her, explaining how she had to take a placement test so they could place her in the correct year.

She should've seen this coming. Surely, she didn't want to be placed with a bunch of first years. Even if she was able to place that high in the first place.

After numerous exchanges of quick nods she had finally left the room.

She needed air.

She strolled to the tower quietly, afraid she would be caught. After climbing the narrow steps she took in a large breath, smelling a citrusy and minty smell nearby. It felt unusually fresh but unnatural. As if it was bottled up into a perfume.

She wasn't entirely wrong.

The platinum haired wizard stood next to her, gripping the railing tightly.

She flinched a little. Didn't spot his presence the first time.

"Following me?"

The wind blew his untamed hair in front of his eyes which he pushed away seconds later.

"No."

"Are you a pureblood?"

"Yes."

"Hm. Last name?"

"Eclipse."

"You're foreign then?"

"Sort of."

She hoped he wouldn't ask any further questions. Especially ones she couldn't answer.

He didn't.

"How about you? Are you a pureblood?"

She knew he was one, but only asked for the sake of a conversation.

"Obviously."

She was surprised at his response, but cleared her throat to ease the awkward tension that roamed in the atmosphere. A response that you couldn't answer to without making it sound weird.

Yet, she tried.

"Nice." She croaked.

She instantly regretted it. Should've listened to her head.

His light eyebrows furrowed, his nose scrunching a bit. As if he smelled something foul. The only thing that smelled hideous was her response.

It was not like his was any better.

He walked away with his hands shoved into his pockets, the wind singing its own song as she flushed in embarrassment, patches of red dominating her cheeks as she gripped the railing tightly as Draco did.

━ ✽━

Theo had called over Juliet, to their table during lunch at the Great Hall. She maneuvered quite quickly, excited.

She hadn't made many friends. The reason was unknown. Or maybe it was because of her lack of socializing and almost being locked up in a castle. Like Rapunzel, except there was no real prince to save her.

"How was your first day?"

"It was actually alright." She puckered her lips softly, debating on what foods she should try next. Chose mashed potatoes.

"That's good. Met Blaise?" His head jerked to the right of his shoulder.

"Ah, no. I haven't."

She gave him a thin smile, awkwardly waving at his direction, he gave a small nod in response.

She didn't get along with boys that often. Roughhousing was common back at home until her mother punished her for not acting formally. Her father agreed.

Typical reactions.

If anything, the only boys that did count were her father and Prince Richard. Two misogyny based men.

Nonetheless, she hoped the ones in front of her would be different; had acquired minimal faith and believed they had some sort of human decency.

Draco twirled around his chicken on his plate, his fork neatly sliding into it, and cutting it apart.

He didn't want to eat again. Lost his appetite from earlier. A daily, repetitive, expected routine.

Instead, he occasionally watched Juliet eat. Savor the last bits, constantly take seconds as if she hadn't seen food in days.

Merlin's beard, he really did envy her.

Envy that would presumably turn into the vile depths of hate.

Soon, words would pour out of his mouth like nothing. Hurtful, impactful ones. Ones he had used multiple times on muggle borns and others that were a disappointment in his perspective.

He bit his tongue for support. Hoping that it would listen to him, and refrain him from using them.

But his teeth let go.

"Why do you eat so much?"

Instant feelings of regret rushed over as a wave.

Distraught stricken faces all over the table. His voice was louder than usual. Astoria let out a gasp, a few snickers here and there. His eyes were glued to Juliet. There was no need to call her name.

Juliet found it rather funny. The boy in front of her, who hadn't touched a thing on his plate ever since she had been here, had the audacity to ask her why.

She visioned him as her mother. How she always wanted to talk back to her.

"Because I'm hungry?" She stated the obvious. "Maybe you should try eating too."

It wasn't meant to be harsh but she earned a couple of wide stares as if her weak retaliation was the best thing she had ever said.

He didn't bother her again, believing he should stay away from the new girl. She seemed like bad news, similar to a Rita Skeeter developed article.

It was for the best. Nothing about her intrigued him. First it was envy, now it had turned to despisal. She wouldn't be useful to him.

There was no need to waste his time on something worthless, like her. He was too shameful to admit this happened because of his decisions. His poor control over his tongue.

Perhaps he would have to make it bleed next time.

Either way, it was too late. Fate wasn't in favor of Draco Malfoy.

Juliet was the one who was intrigued instead.

Only time would tell, that she would be the one to beg for more.

And he would feed.


	11. TEN

𝐉𝐔𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐓 𝐋𝐄𝐅𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 classroom, feeling nauseated from the placement exam she still took. Being excused from her classes, she found herself wandering to the empty library.

She had a sudden urge to read.

But nothing about magic. At least not now. She wasn't feeling homesick but wouldn't mind reading a simple piece of literature that didn't mention any magic-like things, she preferred anything at this point. Something that would make her feel a bit more comfortable.

Even a few words would do the trick.

Slumping down on her chair, Juliet continued to stare outside the windows, failing to find anything that would entertain her with all this free time. Having no one to go to Three Broomsticks with, she found herself isolated amongst the large crowds around her.

She wanted company. Anyone to talk to besides the professors. Someone that would help her realize she was in fact not in a dream.

The library was quiet as well, she would hear squeaks and shuffles nearby but not ones towards the library, yet she found herself looking back and forth, hoping someone would come and see her.

Though no one really knew her.

Everyone already had their friends or their "cliques" established, they had no room for no one else. An occupied house that welcomed no guests.

She wondered if the castle to here was any real change. She still felt like she had no one. Despite how much she wanted this, it felt as if she was still trapped in her own nightmare.

Freedom.

There were two types.

One where you were alone, left stranded, being ignored.

The second one was being lonely, no one wanted you. You were still the odd one out, but you were being forgotten instead.

She was feeling alone a week ago, but now it seemed as if loneliness consumed the life in her. Blank stares, short exchanges and then she was all by herself again. She was the odd one out, she was from a different parallel.

Freedom was given to her easily.

Yet she felt so trapped.

She heard more shuffling once again, not bothering to look back. Assumed it was just students moving to there other classes.

Her eyes stayed glued to the binds of the books neatly stacked on the numerous shelves.

And then hands holding one of them.

They had now averted to streaks of platinum blonde colored hair. The color that stood out amongst a crowd. The color that almost matched the pale skin that it covered.

Draco Malfoy.

He was doing the simplest thing, turning the pages of a book, but ever so carefully, she felt her attention draw to him. As if she was an artist watching her muse, painting it, and personifying it to her ability.

Making it seem unusually real.

His cold stare ruined it.

"Do you mind not staring at me?"

"S-sorry." She stammered, looking away.

Yet, she could feel his gaze bury within her soul.

As if he was surprised at her response. What was there to be surprised about?

And then she remembered their conversation from the other day. Where he asked her that foul question and how she had embarrassed him, caused a ruckus. How everyone thought she was a hero for talking back to someone so stone hearted. Someone people presumably feared.

Her apology made her seem so little. She took it back.

"I'm not sorry. Actually." Still avoiding his eyes, she ran a hand swiftly through her hair.

"You should be. Then again, I'm not surprised you're staring at me."

Cockiness. She despised it. Reminded her of her father.

"It's not like you're good looking."

"So why were you staring at me?"

"The book." She lied, always quick at lying. It went well at first, but it would only falter from then. Seemed as if her practice paid off when she did lie to her father quite often.

"Hm?"

"The book. I was interested in the book. I- I was waiting for you to give it up, so I can read it."

"You want to read it? What's the title then?" He queried, shutting the book so the cover was no longer in sight. Preventing her from looking.

A smidge of silence passed between them, she bit her lip, thinking of any possible response. But nothing seemed to choke out of her mouth.

"Lying isn't your thing I'm guessing. For a pureblood, you aren't the brightest."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means you aren't smart Eclipse." He seethed. "Don't try to pull a Weasley all right? You see them? Bloody nutters. Look how poor they are, aren't smart either."

"There's nothing wrong with being poor."

"So you admire them?"

"That's not what- yes." She spat back in retaliation. "Indeed, I do."

Draco looked shocked, unprepared for her answer, he expected the girl to agree with him, but now that her gaze was finally on his, he realized she wasn't kidding.

He scoffed lightly, shrugging his shoulders as if he did expect it, pretending to understand her unexpected response.

"You admire them?"

"Yes. They're a large family. They get along with each other well. In fact, all of them combined have more of a personality than you."

"Don't you think that's far more than an assumption Eclipse?"

"It's the correct one."

"Don't you have class?"

"Don't you?"

They had both dropped to silence again. Only their heavy breaths dominated the quietness that was now roaming peacefully besides them, waiting for the second round of eruption.

The quietness must have been Pansy, because suddenly her words popped into her mind.

Make him your friend.

She kept promises.

"I'm sorry." She repeated, gathering her materials. "I- I should be helping you...not- not...making you an enemy." She whispered the last bit to herself.

"Apologizing again? Are you going to take it back this time?"

"N-no. This is my fault. You're right. The Weaselys are- are in fact, terrible."

How much it hurt to say those words.

"So what was that just now? You think your words would just blow over me?"

"No, I was kidding. I thought you were one of those Slytherins that liked other people that are you know...yeah." She couldn't bring herself to say it. "It was just a joke. A test."

"So you're a good liar after all. Convinced me a bit." He chuckled softly, opening the book back up. "Do you do this to everyone?"

"Only some."

"Didn't do it to Astoria."

Silence.

"It doesn't matter. She likes mudbloods, I suggest not talking to her, she has some sort of respect for them; sounds like rubbish if you ask me."

She hesitantly agreed.

"Well, I guess I can see why you're a Slytherin now." He let out a tired sigh, the conversation was dying out.

"How so?"

"Cunning."

She understood how, in fact it happened just now. Though it was all an act.

"Ambitious."

"How?"

"You're trying to be my friend. You think I didn't catch you trying to approach me different times yesterday?"

Hues of red had grown over her cheeks, she flushed in embarrassment.

"There's more isn't there?" She asked again, trying to ease any possible awkward tension around them.

"More...?"

"More traits."

He averted his eyes to the ground. "Leadership. Resourcefulness." His sharp voice came to a sudden stop.

"Hm." She gulped.

He glided his tongue smoothly over his lower lips, and closed the book shut, placing it on her desk.

"Apparition. That was the book's title."

He walked away.

She didn't know why, but she felt some sort of feeling build up inside herself, one that made her feel flourished. A small smile crept up on her face.

She had made her first friend. One that was nothing like her. But she had made one. She could tell, though it was a subtle movement, Draco Malfoy himself seemed nervous doing it.

She was getting there.

━ ✽━

𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐎 𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐓 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 he made the worst decision in his life.

He wanted to stay away from her, sensed she was bad news, yet he gave in and fed.

But it felt right. Strangely right.

No, he wasn't her friend. She was just an acquaintance to him.

He didn't have time to make friends. As if those people were a thing. Surely he had Theo and Blaise but how long till they left too?

Everyone seemed to leave in his life. So he gave up on having hope, hoping someone would stay for him. It was selfish, but needed.

He lived in despair. And everyday he drowned, like in an ocean, waves and waves rushing over him, pulling him down to the abyss, and there was no one to save him.

Water was beautiful yet so destructive.

To one, an ocean from afar felt calming, tranquil, peaceful.

But when you're dragged in, the only thing you see is your reflection.

Your true regrets, deepest desires, ugly secrets.

And god, he had so many. He had eventually lost count.

Either way, at the end of the day, there was no one to pull him out. People were a waste of time. They would relentlessly use you constantly till they got what they needed and then discarded you like nothing.

It was similar to Crabbe and Goyle. How they only befriended him because they were scared of his father, for his money, for their reputation. He was too naive to understand back then, but it was more than obvious now. Nonetheless, that was only the start of his realization, it was only the beginning.

He thought there was always an end. Had hope, even the tiniest bit. Yet, it only became worse. How his father used him, how Voldemort used him. Using him, present tense. And both of them would continue to till he would completely fade.

Maybe death was the only thing there that would save him from drowning. From all the pain, and suffering. None of this, none of life was real.

He wanted death to reach out to him so many times, pull him out of the water.

However, his requests were declined every time. He wondered why, though the answer was always right in front of him.

When you look at an ocean from afar, you feel calm, peaceful, tranquility shudders you.

Someone was waiting for him. Waiting for him to reach out to them. So they could learn that within waves, there are lost souls wanting to be saved.

And maybe when he would give a signal, he would be truly rescued after all.

Not by death, but by life.

By a person.


	12. ELEVEN

𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐎 𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐅𝐎𝐘 𝐖𝐀𝐒 skipping classes.

Again.

However this was solely for another purpose.

This was for his satisfaction, and his only.

He gripped onto her skin forcefully, as she tilted her head back in pleasure, letting his tongue slither down her neck and just seconds later his teeth sucked on her skin. Hard. Draco knew how to please a girl, he would leave small nips on her collarbone that would eventually turn into hues of purple, and he would always take dominance.

No matter how strong his opponent might be.

As small moans escaped from her mouth, he clamped her mouth forcefully, demanding her to stay quiet. He unbuckled his belt, and dug his fingernails into her back. Reminding her he was the one in control, he was the one with power.

How sad it was to see her obey.

Long, tired breaths had reflected off of each of them, Draco pulling down her shirt and holding onto her waist for support, followed by her legs jumping around his in just a few moments. He smirked between kisses and groaned between movements. As she went to pull the hem of his boxers down, Draco let his hand go.

Then he stopped. Completely.

It was a sudden movement, caught off guard by the girl who gulped nervously, afraid of what happened. Afraid she had disappointed him and now he would tell her to leave. She whispered asking if she was going too fast but he ignored her.

He heard footsteps nearby. Familiar ones.

Throwing the girl on the floor, he kicked the bathroom door open, revealing a girl who nervously laughed at Draco's flustered and annoyed face. He straightened his tie and hissed underneath his breath, followed by curses.

"Eclipse. What the fuck are you doing here?"

"It's the girl's bathroom." She pointed to the sign on the door. "I hope I didn't interrupt anything." She said sarcastically, eyeing the legs underneath the stall.

"You did." He groaned, running a hand through his sweaty hair and telling the Hufflepuff to leave.

"But-"

"Leave." He demanded, she scurried away giving a glare at Juliet who mouthed a sorry, but actually was disgusted.

"Bloody hell. You're annoying." He shrugged on his cloak, fixing his belt as Juliet looked away in embarrassment.

"Didn't know using the bathroom was considered annoying."

"Not when I'm shagging someone."

"It's a bathroom. Not your shag jungle." She blurted on accident, Draco cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Well, then do what you need to do then since you decided to ruin everything. She was a good one. Take a shit or whatever."

"Really?"

"What?"

"You're all nice to me yesterday-"

"Woah." He paused, scoffing lightly. "Nice? That was just me talking to you. I can see right through you Eclipse, and just because you're a pureblood that doesn't like mudbloods doesn't mean you can befriend me so easily. Do me a favor, and stay away from me, all right?"

"You're a dick."

"I sure have one. Want to give it a try?" He smirked, but shaking his head later as if he didn't want her either way.

Juliet groaned and stomped away, avoiding his smirks. How could he switch up so quickly? She sucked on her teeth harshly before running down to the field.

She was rather confused on how a simple boy like him could just get her become all pissed in matter of a few seconds, and it embarrassed her even more that she entered a scene where Draco Malfoy was practically shagging someone, or was about to. She wondered if he did that to every girl, but one thing she promised that even if he did, she wouldn't be one of them.

━ ✽━

"You walked in on Malfoy shagging someone didn't you?" Astoria sighed, watching Juliet slam the door and startle at Astoria's figure, she was slumped against headboard.

"N-no." She stammered quizzically.

"No need to lie. I know faces when I see them, trust me I've almost seen every girl's face when they witness Draco Malfoy shagging someone. They complain about how 'foul and disgusting' it is, but then you hear them the next day with him." She gagged grossly before chucking a chocolate frog at Juliet, who caught it.

"D-does he do it to everyone? All the time?"

"Eh." She shrugged. "Depends. When he's feeling busy or down he usually does it to 'get his mind off of it'. Doesn't happen very often. But when it does, there's a line full of girls."

Juliet cringed at the last part.

"So, are you going to be next?"

"W-what? N-no. Bloody hell, no." She shook her head frantically. "Never."

"I don't know why, but for some reason I believe you." She took a brief pause before continuing. Say, do you want to go to Three Broomsticks with Daphne and I? We're leaving in like ten."

Juliet bit her lip.

She really wanted to try the butterbeer, and needed something sweet after what she had just witnessed.

"Sure." She gave a small smile to Astoria.

"Great. See you in the common room then. Oh, and by the way. Malfoy goes to Three Broomsticks a lot, so if you see him there, just ignore him. You don't want to ask why." She looked down and shuddered as if she had remembered something, before leaving.

After the trio had left Hogwarts, they had talked about all sorts of things on their way there. Astoria told Juliet about how Draco Malfoy was practically the school's bully, a son of a death eater (Juliet had to ask what that was) and how he always hated Harry Potter.

There were many things wrong with him. It all made sense now to Juliet.

Exactly what did he need help with? Pansy was friends with him?

She scoffed to herself lightly, almost laughing at her request before ordering a butterbeer. It was explained to be extremely sweet and foamy. But one glass would cheer her up, it was enough to lift up her mood after realizing that Draco Malfoy was practically a villain in her world.

She was partially right. The butterbeer didn't live up to her expectations, she had figured it was her fault because she had set them so high. Yet, the warm substance was chugged down quickly, and the foam had built up on her upper lip which was once bare. She cleaned it away, watching the sisters widen their eyes at her.

"Oh, there he is." Daphne sighed sadly.

Juliet jerked her head back at Draco who sat down with Theo and Blaise, murmuring some words to the waiter before diving back into their initial conversation.

"Don't look at him." Astoria demanded. "He will embarrass you in front of all these people."

Juliet looked around.

There were approximately twenty people at the place, mostly students from her year.

She couldn't afford her reputation to falter so quickly so she looked away.

Yet, it was too late.

He had caught her, Juliet was not one to be slow-witted, yet she was the oblivious type, and that was quite clear. Obviously he would take advantage of it.

Draco walked over, watching Astoria and Daphne look away. He was even more puzzled at the fact that Juliet was hanging out with them, especially what she had told him yesterday.

"Hanging out with the mudblood lovers?" He glanced at the sisters before averting his eyes back to Juleit's earthly brown ones.

He spoke quite noisily, earning the scrutiny of those nearby.

"Don't you have someone to shag Malfoy?" Juliet quarrelled in response. "Next time don't do it in the girl's bathroom."

She earned chuckles and a good amount of amusement, it was pure entertainment, Daphne and Astoria gaped at her in awe.

Draco huffed angrily. "Just remember Eclipse. You did this to yourself."

Juliet didn't know what he meant but only burst into laughter a few seconds later, as Daphne and Astoria applauded her retaliations.

But poor Juliet didn't know what Malfoy would have in the store for her. Only if the future was there to tell her that she made an enormous aberration. A mistake no one ever dared to commit.

She had made her first enemy, officially disobeying Pansy's commands.

So much for assuring herself that she would keep her promise.

But unlike the butterbeer, that was soft, creamy, sweet, and warm.

Draco Malfoy was bleak, bitter, and raw.

And that wasn't her taste. Not her preferred one.


	13. TWELVE

𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐎 𝐇𝐄𝐑 enemy was possibly the worst omission, she had the chance to befriend him, make him her ally, delve into his soul, but she chose not to.

And she didn't grasp the thought till today.

What she did was not the worst, yet it was the talk for days. Draco Malfoy had shagged someone in the girls loo; the girl's identity to be unknown, what she did had made his reputation flounder, and it was already faltering prior to this event.

He was considered a fool now.

Draco was furious at the brown haired witch, his subtle movements were enough to show how angered he was. He would often push her in the corridors, gossip about how she looked terrible. But they had eventually progressed overtime.

Sticks and stones will break my bones,

but words will never hurt me.

But his words had bruised Juliet. How he pointed out the tiniest things to her, her stomach, her untamed hair that was described as a "birds nest", when asked if she was okay by the Greengrasses, she nodded, with forced smiles.

She was okay.

If she told herself that numerous times, she would truly believe it. Yet, it was complicated to believe she was okay, because the platinum blonde haired wizard disgustingly reminded her of her parents. Not just her father, but her mother as well.

How they criticized her for every little thing she did, how she was often described as a whale, the way her hair never laid straight.

Nonetheless, she knew this would blow over. He would let her go, and everything would return to normalcy.

Whatever normalcy was considered in Hogwarts.

She would spot Malfoy in the halls and occasionally would not hesitate to flip him off, her behavior would have caused a ruckus back at home, but here, she didn't mind, sometimes she pictured Draco as Prince Richard with this signature frightened face, instead of the smirk that was always plastered on Draco's; because she knew if she saw it, she would be angry.

And most of the time it worked. Other times he would just ignore.

Eventually she was right. The talk of the week had died out, she concluded that Draco Malfoy would finally leave her alone.

But, she was wrong. Again.

Draco walked up to her, and whenever he approached someone, his hands would sit firmly in his pockets, he would carefully look at his opponent, and stroll over gently then would give a sudden stop.

Just by a few movements, he had the ability to convince the crowd that he was the center of attention.

"Scared, Eclipse?"

She stood firmly on the ground, her feet wouldn't budge, she wanted to run. But it was as if she obliged to stay. Her toes curled underneath her shoes.

"Pockets look heavy. Got food in there for your belly?" He seemed proud of himself for that one, maybe it was because it rhymed.

Laughs. Snickers. Pitiful smiles.

Juliet didn't know how to respond.

His grey eyes were raw. Cold, the color was nothing she saw like before, it wasn't just grey, they possessed an uncomfortable feeling. Stormy clouds on a rainy day hinted with some sort of darkness not many could acquire. It was as if he was asking for help.

She snapped out of her odd observation.

"Why can't you just leave me alone?"

"It's hard not to. You're so vulnerable."

"You're a piece of shit for doing this. Doesn't change the fact that you shagged someone."

He looked around, shooing the crowd away after earning a few gasps and shocked voices. Whispers crowded the silence as everyone scurried away. The "talk" would now arrive once again, he was sure of it. She stared coldly, hoping to scare him, but he didn't budge.

Was it safe to say she was scared?

Once the corridors were completely empty, he stared right back at her, clenching his jaw tightly as if it would screw loose anytime.

"Do you know what happens when you embarrass a Malfoy?"

"I don't care what happens. You already showed it during these past few days."

"Oh." He nodded, agreeing. "But that's only the beginning darling."

He leaned down so his lips leveled with her ear.

"There's no ending. I'll be pestering you every time I see you. Should've listened to me when I said to stay away, yeah? Everytime I talk to you Juliet, you will feel like someone casted the Cruciatus curse on you. "

She knew what the Cruciatus curse was.

His hot breath trickled over her ear down to her neck, making her shudder, the tingling sensation in her spine must've burned right through her.

"To remind you, I am a Slytherin. Slytherins are ambitious. They don't give up easily. You would know, when you tried to...befriend me."

She only stayed quiet, feeling the rage build up within her. "Then I won't give up on you either."

He scoffed lightly. "On what? Befriending me-"

"No. I'll use the Crucio spell on you just as much as you use it on me, Malfoy."

"Are you challenging me?" He seethed between his clenched teeth, putting his arm right next to her face.

Sudden waves of boldness arrived, hibernating in her soul.

She pulled his tie down, jerking his face towards her.

Juliet could now smell his minty and citrusy cologne, it was addicting. She knew, she smelt it. It was his signature scent, and she hated herself for liking it.

"I am." She whispered softly, letting her breath hover over Draco's neck.

"Then may the best win."

━ ✽━

Juliet knew she was not the brightest.

Yet, she felt as if challenging Malfoy was a reach.

"You're bloody mental Juliet." Astoria shook her head. "He will torture you."

"And I'll do it right back."

"No...Juliet, it's not that simple. In the past he has done foul things. You're lucky you aren't muggle born, he would practically kill you if he could. But the point is, he's very powerful."

"I'll just have to overpower him then." She retorted confidently.

Though her confidence had already withered a while ago.

"Be careful. Don't say I didn't warn you."

Juliet knew Astoria was looking out for her like any sane person would do, but could Draco really be any worse than he is right now? What else could he have done?

Unless he was his father, then she could've seen why.

Despite her little to no poise, she was glad to have some sort of excitement. She knew Draco's words had somehow ached her, she would just have to become stronger to prevent herself from becoming completely bruised. After all, she requested the challenge.

He took it.

━ ✽━

𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐎 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆.

There was not a lot of time left till the next meeting. His mind should've been occupied with his task, but instead the thought of Juliet Eclipse roamed inside his conscious mind instead.

What she did bewildered him; no one had ever "challenged" him before, yes some had retorted but their argument was short lived and weak.

Something told him this time would be different.

But he couldn't use a distraction. Not now. His father would call him childish for making one of his own kind his enemy. It would be a waste of time.

And it was clear that time was never in his favor. Nor was fate.

Yet, he accepted her request, quickly. He didn't even think of it before agreeing, perhaps it was because the task had basically prevented him from having any sort of entertainment.

He wondered if this was even considered entertainment. Making fun of others, calling them derogatory slurs, just because they had something he didn't.

Harry being the center of attention at all times, everyone praising him for doing the bare minimum—existing.

Hermione Granger, being exceptionally smart, and possessing the title for being the brightest witch of her age.

Ron Weasley, who had a large family, a close knitted one.

It was obvious why they were named the Golden Trio, maybe to others it was because they had done many exceptional things during their lifetime at such a young age.

But to Draco, it was because they had the things he didn't. To him, they possessed things that were "golden" to him. Friends, family, and more, he couldn't even keep track.

He just couldn't bring himself to admit it.

Maybe what he had just agreed to was childish, challenging someone to see who would wear down first was similar to a game of chess. Precise moves, yet the game was time consuming, and despite how hard you tried, only one could win.

But he wouldn't ever back down, he would be labeled as weak and frightened.

And he was convinced that he was none of those things.

For now.


	14. THIRTEEN

𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐏𝐔𝐙𝐙𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆.

At least for Juliet.

She was questioning why Malfoy hadn't spoken to her or pestered her for a while, he seemed rather consumed into his own thoughts. Maybe he gave up and won. But he wouldn't give up so easily. He didn't seem type to.

Potions with Slughorn was not always a bore, but specifically today she had found herself not paying consideration to the lesson. After he announced that he was assigning partners, the class seemed to adapt to the gloomy atmosphere the weather was reflecting.

"On the side of your desks you will see a name labeled on the paper. Find your new seats and new partners, I assigned them based on who needs the most assistance, and who can help them acquire the grades they need to pass this semester."

A few groans escaped the pursed mouths of numerous Gryffindors and Slytherins, but they all unwillingly had gotten up to find their new seats.

"What a bother, I'm with Granger!" One hissed.

"I got Dean. He's a bit cute."

"I got Malfoy."

Astoria and Daphne ducked down and looked at Juliet's name that was very well written on the piece of parchment, they both gave her a pitiful smile, mouthing good luck. She would be needing them.

After the class had settled in, Professor Slughorn continued to administer the lesson, successfully grasping the wandering attention, they would be needing this material for their upcoming exam so the knowledge was essential.

Malfoy however begged to argue. He thought learning the basics was enough, and if he were to learn more, he would definitely not want to with the obnoxious girl next to him.

"Are you going to get the ingredients?" The chocolate eye colored girl queried, waiting for a response.

"Get them yourself." He demanded, seething through his clenched teeth.

She obeyed, thought it would be good practice if she would have to differentiate ingredients or organize them during detention, but surely Malfoy would have to do the rest.

Juliet must have had a streak by now because Malfoy didn't want to do a single thing, he seemed tired but sympathy was the last thing on her mind now. She was practically forcing him to do something at this point.

And he would refuse every time; she wondered if this was part of the challenge— he was winning then because it did bother her.

She would just have to keep playing.

She poured in the herbs one by one, when the book said to drop in four, she put five, when it said to stir two times, she did it once, st first Draco didn't notice, but when the odd colored water started bubbling unlike the others in the room, he snatched the ingredients away.

"Are you bloody mental?" He asked as if it were a question but anyone could tell he was distressed by the numerous omissions Juliet had omitted.

Though he took control now, Slughorn was now circling the room, examining everyone's to be Draught of Living Death.

He was only two students away.

Desperately, Draco attempted to fix the potion to his ability— he didn't care about the grade, but if this had cost him a detention or two it would set him back on his tasks, and he learned multiple times that time was a well known enemy.

And once again, he had failed.

Professor Slughorn was far more disappointed at the duo, clearly they were unsuccessful and after thinking Juliet was the intelligent one of the two, he thought he had probably made a mistake.

After correcting their mistakes, he gave the two a detention, leaving with an angered frown.

"This is all your fault."

"It's what you get for not helping me. If you did this wouldn't have happened." She retorted.

"You made a big mistake Eclipse."

"I've made many mistakes."

"This is presumably the worst one then. You don't learn do you? See you at detention." He convened his materials before heading out the door.

If this was the worst mistake she had ever committed.

Then he wasn't ready for her impending ones. And to her they weren't mistakes.

They were meant to happen, because fate was in her favor.

━ ✽━ 

"𝐃𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐇𝐄𝐑?" Blaise inquired. "That's not so bad. She's one of us."

"Do you not recall what happened at Three Broomsticks?"

"Oh, right." Blaise awkwardly scratched the back of his neck.

"She's isn't that bad mate-"

"It's not her. I can shut her up in a minute, it's my fucking time that's being wasted."

"Just don't go."

"I would if it didn't earn me another."

Draco sat on the leather couch, propping his feet up on the table, as he laid his head back, his muscles were sore for the past few days, this was the most relaxation he could receive at the moment, but everytime it was short lived.

His dark mark twitched beneath his shirt, vibrating against his pale skin, the pain had become numb but the hideous symbol would be a constant admonition on how harrowing his life was. It was truly dire.

His breath was slowed down into small increments of time, hoping before his detention would ruin his already troublesome life, he would be able to get some leisure, or some time to sleep.

He woke up about ten minutes later, watching the clock switch to four, after mildly stretching he headed to the potions classroom, Juliet was a few steps ahead of him, realizing she didn't even bother to wake him up.

It's not like he expected her to.

Professor Slughorn ordered them to organize the vials based on size; obviously this didn't need to be done, he just wanted them occupied.

"Wands please."

Juliet handed over her wand, she was hesitant— feeling apprehensive to give her wand away, after having it for a short amount of time. Draco must have read her mind.

"It's temporary."

She wanted to say "oh" but gave him a reassuring look instead, pretending that she knew.

"One hour to organize everything. No mischief or you will see yourself in this same room again. Is that clear?"

Draco rolled his eyes and gave a subtle nod unlike Juliet who nodded multiple times, assuring nothing would happen.

Hoped, nothing would happen. It was only a matter of time before Malfoy would take advantage of the situation, he would surely get her back.

After the door was locked shut, Juliet immediately began to organize the vials, avoiding the tension between the two; it was awkward but she sensed some sort of fear.

In herself.

Draco, as expected, leaned against the walls, watching Juliet carefully setting up her workplace. A smirk crept up on his face, as his lip glided over his bottom lip.

"Need any help?"

"No thanks."

"You think you can organize six hundred vials in a hour?"

"A person can try."

"A person can dream as well Eclipse."

He strolled over, his hands sitting in his pockets as always, after taking his rings off and slipping them into the pockets of his robes, his large hands had grabbed numerous bottles at once and placed them on the shelves, Juliet watched him line up them easily by size.

"How did you-"

"A person can try." He mimicked.

"Clever."

"You think I'm clever?"

"I was being sarcastic." She defended herself before the already cocky boy would increase his ego even more.

"Then.." He grabbed the glasses again, and placed them on it's original space.

"What are you doing?"

He bit his bottom lip as if he was trying to assemble something, but eventually Juliet figured out he was wasting her time. Their time, but she was doing the work.

"You— why did you put them back?"

"You said I wasn't clever." He pouted.

She rolled her eyes. "Put them back."

"No."

She was feeling defeated, Malfoy was obviously teasing her to get on her nerves, but she wouldn't let him grasp her so easily. She wasn't his toy. She belonged to no one.

"Fine. You can watch me then." She retorted, grabbing the glasses and placing them neatly on the wooden shelves, her eyes glued to the different eights, and adjusting them based on what Slughorn had required them to do.

She knew he would become bored.

But Draco Malfoy never got bored so easily. Not when his opponent stood in front of him, being so vulnerable. He propped his arm up and looked at Juliet, hoping to intimidate her. His messy hair hung loosely in front of his eyes, slightly touching eyebrows as his hand gripped onto one of the vials genty.

If Draco Malfoy was good at anything, it was to be appealing to someone.

A fulgurating glare reflected across both of them like a mirror, except they never liked what was in front of them.

His scented cologne had possessed Juliet, because she was unusually attracted to him like no other.

How unfortunate it was, because he had noticed. Always the observant type he was.

She gulped.


	15. FOURTEEN

𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐎 𝐒𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐋𝐘 𝐇𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃 over her figure, as his hands gently tucked hairs behind her ear, his warm breath trickled down her neck as she held the shelves tightly. She was backed into the wall, the vial in her hand was placed on a desk nearby.

Her heart thundered underneath her chest, she was afraid he could hear it.

Her own storm.

A smirk crawled onto his pale features, one of his eyebrows cocked. As he inched closer, his hand had trailed onto her neck, squeezing it a little, but not hard enough. His cold rings were pressed hardly into her skin as short breaths escaped her parted lips.

Then she did the unthinkable.

Her hand grasped firmly around his collar, pulling him down. Just as her lips touched Draco's gently, the tingles had forced her awakening.

It was a dream.

Juliet wiped the accumulating sweat on her forehead and neck breathing heavily after what she had just dreamed about. Her night robes clinged onto her figure tightly, her hands pulling the loose fabric away from her skin, hoping to acquire some fresh air.

She was going bloody insane.

After refreshing her dry throat with some water, she fell back on her bed hardly, groaning at the pain that came alone— the dream, it felt so real and now she wondered what her true intentions were.

Maybe she was just deprived of male attention, after being proposed by Richard, she wasn't allowed to interact with men on her part.

But why him? Surely there were more attractive boys around here. Adrian Pucey, Theo Nott, Harry Potter, Cedric Diggory.

So why him?

Her half asleep mind had flashed to the prior events from today.

「 𝙁𝙇𝘼𝙎𝙃𝘽𝘼𝘾𝙆 𝙏𝙊 𝘿𝙀𝙏𝙀𝙉𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉 」

"What—what are you doing?"

"I'm helping."

"W-with what?" She stammered quizzically , trapped in both directions.

Her cheeks had now possessed a peachy color, she was blushing madly and in a matter of seconds she would be tomato red.

So she pushed him off.

He stumbled backwards, dropping the small glass vial onto the ground, a yelp escaping Juliet's parted lips.

"Damn it Eclipse, I was trying to fix your mistake and you pushed me?"

"But you...you were literally standing in front of me!"

"This is your fault."

"I'm not the one to blame."

The yelling continued as they both retorted and argued until Slughorn slammed the door open, more disappointed than angered to see the little to no work done and the shattered glass on the floor.

"What is going on? Broken glass? You two have done nothing but cause trouble!"

"Professor I-"

"Clean up the mess and keep working, you two are in the same house, tolerate each other for Merlin's sake!" He complained before shutting the door closed and locking it once again.

Juliet sighed heavily.

After that, her and Draco didn't talk.

「 𝙀𝙉𝘿 𝙊𝙁 𝙁𝙇𝘼𝙎𝙃𝘽𝘼𝘾𝙆 」

She collapsed on the rectangular frame of her bed, pulling her knees close to her chest.

She was starting to despise herself; how embarrassing that was.

And what made it worse was that she liked it.

Juliet was now afraid to continue sleeping, wondering if the dream would come back to possess her subconscious mind, she begged it to not.

After a brief moment, she felt herself drift to a dreamless slumber.

━ ✽━

"𝐈 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐀 feeling I should skip today, Theo?...Draco I already know you do everyday." Blaise snickered underneath his breath.

Theo agreed. "Yeah don't feel like going today. I have a feeling that Dementors are going to come woooo." He mimicked, making fun of Harry Potter who threw a heavy glare at them.

Draco smirked.

The trio continued to converse and eat, next to Juliet who rested her head against the table, contemplating about what she witnessed last night in her own mind, surely it bothered her a lot.

"Is everything alright?" Theo queried, constantly looking back.

Juliet groaned in response.

"Are you on your...? I know the pain can be-"

"No Theo." She shook her head, finally propping herself up. "Just not feeling well." 

For obvious reasons she couldn't tell them what happened.

Draco rolled his eyes annoyingly. "She earned me another detention."

"Us." She retorted, emphasizing on the word heavily to clear any possible misconceptions."If we just worked together we could've easily organized the vials in one go. You chose not to."

"You pushed me."

"You were in my way."

"Shut up both of you. Seriously, does it change the fact that you guys will have another detention with each other again? No. Suck it up." Blaise retaliated, exhausted from the arguments they had continuously.

Nonetheless, he was right. If Juliet and Draco could go through one more detention without any mishaps, they wouldn't have to be with each other ever again, besides their little "challenge", Juliet wouldn't have to tolerate his obnoxious behavior.

The trio once again dissolved into their initial conversation, their attention was finally drawn away from Juliet, but she could still feel a cold gaze roam inside of her soul, as if it had never left. Maybe it was a hallucination, but when she turned around, the platinum blonde haired boy's eyes never left hers.

Daphne gave her an apologetic look, asking if anything was wrong, possibly by the tired look on her face, she declined, not trying to worry her peers over a dream she had mistakenly dreamt of.

After the long, time consuming breakfast, Juliet headed to the Astronomy Tower, her first period was a free, so during these she took advantage of these times to think, it was simple really, her head would constantly open new or old memories from her pain, and play them on a projector in her head. Upsetting ones, excruciating flashbacks and many more she couldn't replay completely.

Today she picked one with Princess Jannete.

The Princess of Switzerland, she was filthy rich and her family consisted of numerous findings and connections, surely any family or prince would be lucky to have her.

She was a guest at first, who overtime turned into a friend, and finally an enemy.

They were never close friends, but Juliet's definition of close was being able to express your emotions to them both physically and mentally, and from a young age, she wasn't able to do that, so Princess Jannete was practically the only person there.

But marriage had to ruin everything.

Youth.

Why did Prince Richard propose to Juliet and not the Princess of Switzerland? Unlike Juliet who didn't want to get married, Jannete begged to argue, but despite their differences on how they envisioned their future, they remained friends.

However, Richard never liked Janette, he fancied Juliet which caused a dispute between the kings.

And at the end, Juliet won.

But at what cost? To lose her friend? She was the only person who genuinely seemed to be there for her.

If anything, she was the only person that seemed to care. Emphasis on seemed.

Because she left too. Just like everyone else did.

She had no one.

━ ✽━

𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐎 𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐃 𝐈𝐓 between his lips, letting the rolled paper sit between them, as the lighter lit the ends up, watching the fiery red burst into films.

Fire was his friend.

As he handed it over to Blaise, small smoke bubbles came out of his mouth occasionally, as he took in the smell of the green substance he was growing an addiction to.

He didn't do it everyday, but it was often enough to know that he knew his way around.

"Feels good." Theo leaned back, closing his eyes in the common room.

"No shit. We're out either way so enjoy it while it lasts." Blaise reassured the two who were too busy to listen the first time.

"What?" Draco exhaled.

"We're out." He repeated. "It's a good thing either way. Don't want you two to get addicted. I think it's better if we lay off for a while."

Theo didn't mind.

Draco however retaliated. "Are you bloody insane?" He threw his head back and placed his arm over his eyes, upset at the recent news.

"No, you are." Theo huffed.

"You both are arseholes."

"Thanks for the daily reminder." Blaise snorted, followed by a snicker from Theo.

He was too oblivious to notice he had friends that cared.

Because some had no one.

Surely, Draco's mind was preoccupied with numerous tasks for the Dark lord, and he was adapted to the feeling that people aren't meant to stay— but at the same time, it shielded him from realizing there were many people there for him, despite how alone he felt, he truly wasn't lonely. 

It would only be a matter of time till he realized.


	16. FIFTEEN

"𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐒𝐌𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐁𝐀𝐃." Juliet pinched her nose as Draco walked by, the thick smell hugging her throat. "Were you smoking?"

Draco pulled up his sleeves to his elbows, letting the fire warm his numb skin.

"Want a whiff?"

"Gross."

"Have a problem?"

"Clearly, I do." She retorted.

Juliet hated smokers. It was a death sentence.

But maybe that was the point.

"Calm down doc, I'm not going to die."

"Like I would care if you did."

The worst tumbled out of her mouth so easily. Yet she fell into a state of shock.

"Would anyone care?" He asked her, before heading upstairs to the boys dormitory.

She regretted her words instantly, it was a bad habit— letting her tongue take control was presumably the worst function of her body.

Juliet thought about what he said.

Would anyone care?

She couldn't feel sorry for him, not now. Yet, it seemed as if the three simple words had dived into her chest like no other, delving into her soul.

Perhaps this was a chance to ask why, maybe this was what Pansy was conversing about with her.

Her heart steered in the path of sympathy, but her mind declined her request. How would she eve help?

She exhaled.

Their second detention would take place today, maybe she could take this opportunity to ask.

The hat did say she would do well in Gryffindor, her courage would just have to hit play anytime soon.

Despite her continuous thought about the arrogant, self absorbed wizard, she hoped he would take a fresh shower before their scheduled hell appointment.

She headed to the Study Hall, meeting Astoria halfway, as they both talked about Professor Mcgonagall's new homework assignment.

Little did she know, but Juliet had a friend.

━ ✽━ 

𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐎 𝐋𝐄𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 water possess his body once again.

This time, only hot water roamed his toned body.

He closed his eyes, leaned his head back and let his imagination take control. It was often ritual, whenever he felt anxious.

This was the only time where he would let his subconscious dominate his naked eye.

He closed his eyes.

This time it was a short lived memory, he couldn't remember the complete version, the reason was unknown.

His mother was playing chess with him, he was young, at the age of eleven, when winter storms roamed in Wiltshire, they played these sort of games to not only skip time but also escape reality.

The one they both feared.

"Every move matters." His mother would repeat occasionally, especially at times where Draco would unintentionally make a false move, or was about to.

It helped him reconsider his decisions, and everytime he played, he would progressively improve, and one day, he had succeeded.

"Well done Draco." She smiled.

The only person besides Theo and Blaise, who called him by his first name, in a positive way.

Before his father ruined everything.

His eyes opened back up, he wished to choose a longer memory, but detention was on his schedule.

Draco turned off the water, wrapping the snow colored towel around his waist and slipping on his new white button down.

After spraying his signature cologne, he went back to the common room, watching Juliet sit on the couch.

She was waiting for him.

Not for the reason he thought she was.

"Let's go together, this time, we are not getting in any arguments." She emphasized, taking the lead.

A soft chuckle left his parted lips.

"I won't let you get off the hook that easily Eclipse."

"I know." She huffed, pointing out the obvious, "that's why we're playing right?"

They both headed to the the potions classroom, a reministic feeling rushing over the two, they both looked at each other briefly before turning away in annoyance; a meteoric glance escaping between the two.

Juliet's mind gazed over to the dream, she shook her head. Not now.

Not when he was so close.

Slughorn ordered the two to clean the shelves, the desks and the floors within an hour, not complicated if they tried, but the amount of shelves seemed as if they would be here for longer than an hour, not time wise, but just the feeling.

Especially with him.

After the same, repetitive process happened with turning in their wands and such, she practically forced Draco ro start cleaning the desks.

"I'll do the shelves."

"I don't want to do this."

"Too, bad. You have to." A awaited groan almost escaped off her tongue but she bit it to prevent it from doing so.

Curses underneath her breath flooded the space in between them.

"Look can you please just do it? We both know none of us want another detention. Not with each other."

"Hm..no."

"Please."

"Come on Eclipse, you're so ambitious. If you really don't want another detention, do it yourself."

She groaned, but cleared her throat. "F-fine. I'll just tell Slughorn you didn't do shit."

"He won't believe you."

"Can you just do one thing Malfoy?"

"We're wasting time by just talking, Eclipse?"

"I'll do anything-"

Merlin's beard. Her teeth didn't do its job and her tongue went loose.

"Anything?"

"No. Not anything." She shuddered at the thought.

"Fine. I'll help you in one condition." He offered, fumbling with his rings.

She stared at the silver plated jewelry. "What do you want?"

"A duel."

Her head jerked up to his.

If anything, she had no experience in using her wand.

"I would rather do this by myself." She shook her head, declining her request.

"Chickening out?"

She held the hand cloth in her palm tightly, biting her lip with a puzzled confusion, he was challenging her, this wasn't about him helping her in detention, it was about the game they were playing.

She didn't want to be a sore loser. All her life, Juliet had taken that role, but she didn't change parallels to play the same one.

"Fine then. What time?"

"Thursday, one hour after curfew."

She had two days. Was that enough time to practice?

Did Draco know that she was basically incapable of casting any sort of magic?

For a moment, she seemed hesitant, but the smirk plastered on his face was enough to make her decision final.

"Okay. Deal."

He held out his hand, waiting for her hand to take it.

His hand was warm, sending rough vibrations through her arms, he had a strong grip, and his cold rings pressed onto her skin hardly.

It reminded her of the dream.

The shake lasted a few seconds before they both pulled away.

"It's settled then." He grabbed the handcloth out of her possession, and started to clean the desk nearby.

"Malfoy?"

"Hm?"

"I'm sorry about what I said earlier."

"What did you say?"

He didn't remember. Maybe it didn't matter. Either way, her courage withered. 

"Oh, I don't recall. Must have forgotten." She let out a chuckle.

Draco looked at her oddly for a brief moment, but thankfully looked away, drawing his attention back to the tables.

After a long hour, full of squeaks, short lived arguments and remarks, they had finished, Slughorn was relieved to see a spotless classroom, assuring himself that maybe he did make the right choice, even if it cost him a vial.

He thanked the duo, before they headed out.

━ ✽━ 

"Juliet y-you don't know how to cast any spells?"

"I told you, we did magic without wands, that's why I transferred here." She lied, letting out nervous laughs in between. "Anyway, I need your help too Daphne."

They both looked at each other before nodding.

"Okay fine." Astoria gave in. "I'll teach you the basics then. What's your core?"

"Phoenix feather." She chewed.

"No way." Daphne placed down her fork. "That's pretty rare Juliet. Rarest one of the bunch."

"Will it help me?"

"I don't think so...it just says what type of person you are."

"Oh." She replied bluntly, disappointed.

"But Juliet, if you are going to duel Draco...I'm just scared he will be harsh on you, he's really good, you know."

Her heart shuddered underneath her chest.

A forced smile covering it up.

"I promise you two I'll be fine."

"It can get complicated Juliet. Every move matters. One wrong choice and you can hurt yourself. Like a game of chess."

"You're making her nervous." Daphne retorted.

"I'm trying to warn her. Are you sure you want to do this?"

"I already made my decision Astoria, I do want to do this. Even if I do lose, I want to know that I tried without giving up. I would be a real loser if I chickened out."

Juliet agreed with her words. Like before, she reminded herself, the last thing she wanted to be was a loser.

And at this moment, it wasn't for her reputation, it was for her.

Across the table, Draco raised an eyebrow, it was enough to say he was cocky enough to think he would win.

She threw the same expression back.

Their glares reflected off of each other, as Juliet continued to stuff her mouth with fruit.


	17. SIXTEEN

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐃 to reflect the quite opposite of what Juliet was feeling. Unlike the vibrant sun that shone through the seamless clouds, a storm seemed to hibernate in Juliet.

Truth was, she wasn't ready.

Her mind was preoccupied with the duel tonight, regardless of how much reparation she had taken, nervousness built up within the realms of her body.

"Read his body language. It's crucial to think fast and come up with a counter curse to protect yourself, but at the same time be aware that your opponent can easily trick you."

Juliet shut her book closed, collapsing on the couch, replaying Astoria's advice in her head like a video, over and over till it had stuck. Yet, she was anxious that they would wither away when the time would come.

Draco Malfoy had one superior move, it was the only thing she had observed overtime in her stay at Hogwarts.

He was seductive, in a way where he drew attention to himself, so by the time his opponent would pay any consideration to his ulterior move, he was already defeating them in one go.

Like what happened in detention, how the vial was grasped in his hand, and how she was practically dominated by him in just a matter of a few seconds, he liked to be in control.

She needed fast reflexes, and the fact that she didn't know if she had them, made it even worse.

Her fingers grasped the core of her wand tightly, trying to feel some sort of powerful sensation to help her release the tension that was building up within her muscles but all she felt was the carved wood burn against her skin.

Juliet was confused. Scared.

Two days was't enough preparation, she was setting up herself for a great loss.

But it was better than opting out, after all loss was just another lesson to reach the pillars of success. Each step was a ladder to victory.

The basics, Expelliarmus, Confundo, Stupefy.

Finite Incantatem. One she would definitely need. Protego. The second one.

She knew he wasn't able to use the three unforgivable curses. She shuddered at the thought but it was literally illegal, one could serve years in Azkaban.

If anything, Draco would be quick enough to use Expelliarmus, to disarm her and then immediately use Stupefy. Did it hurt? If so, immensely?

She had two hours. Meanwhile, Draco was upstairs at the boys dormitory not distressed a single bit.

He never saw the girl cast a charm or a spell in any class, and if she did, he assumed her executions were weak. He could tell by her fragile posture, her slow wits and her sluggish reflexes, he could basically win this easily.

Perhaps he would have to go easy on her. He never liked playing easy, but in her case, he felt more than welcome to give up a bit, pretend like she was superior.

And then cause her downfall immediately, just when her courage starts to build up.

After all the hat did say she would do well in Gryffindor. Maybe this was her chance to show it.

━ ✽━ 

𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐎 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐇𝐈𝐒 opponent, it was past curfew and the moon illuminated the circular structure, supporting them into what was yet to come. The cold breeze intertwined with the tension that laid in the atmosphere.

"You're two minutes late."

"Sorry." She apologized bluntly.

Read him.

His tall frame leaned against the cold walls, his hands sitting firmly in his pockets like they always did, maybe to build up heat within the breeze filled sky. He wasn't being "seductive". Odd.

His wand was nowhere in sight.

Unlike hers, that gripped tightly in her hand as if it would fly away any moment.

Sweat built up in her palms, adrenaline rushing through her veins.

"Let's do this then, yeah?"

Juliet nodded.

He finally took out the carved piece of wood, holding it loosely, but his long fingers showed he was used to the possession of it, he had grown with it over the past six years in Hogwarts, and every moment was a chance to show it.

Draco let her go first. He knew she would. Any sane person would want the first turn.

"Expelliarmus!" She yelled immediately, shooting his wand out his hand, as it dropped to the floor, rolling to the edge of the tower.

It was nice to know he was duelling someone who was sane. Only time would tell if they were quick paced too.

The heel of his foot kicked it up easily, and it laid back in his hands. He had done this same trick numerous times, and each time, it was perfection.

"Easy there. We haven't even-"

"Stupefy!"

She smiled a bit, but knew the happiness wouldn't last so long.

His back contacted the nearby wall hardly, as his figure slipped down, landing on his chest.

A smirk playing upon his face. One she couldn't see because it was behind his lips.

It was the only beginning.

"You're pretty good." He stood up, a bit too easily. 

He was too fast. She couldn't think fast enough. How did he get up so easily without a scratch? She knew how sick he looked, and how he never ate, where was all this coming from?

But his hands were on his knees, this was her chance to do something to wear him down until he begged her to stop.

She only froze. But his hand was loosely held between his fingers, any moment it would fall.

This was the moment.

"Loco-"

Too late.

"Stupefy!"

Juliet's body crashed within the wall, it was the most pain she had ever felt in a lifetime. Immediately a burning sensation stung her badly, and her head hit the side of the next wall, she forgot the correct posture. And the fact that this was a minor to moderate spell, frightened her even more, her wand fell to the ground. She cringed. 

Yet, she had gotten up, as she tried reaching for her wand, Draco played again.

"Impedimenta!"

Her movements suddenly slowed. Draco gave her more than enough time to reach for her wand, but she couldn't help it, he was practically controlling her, and she knew how much he liked to have authority.

Everything felt sore. It was a continuous pain of sudden shocks all over her body, ones that poked her everywhere like knives digging in.

"Draco...can we stop?" Heavy breaths left her parted lips.

"Really, Eclipse? You're going to give up that easily? What a loser you are."

His words seemed to do the trick. She grunted as she grasped her wand tightly, she struggled to get up, her knees were strangely weak and her back throbbed from the pain she was experiencing firsthand.

"S-stupefy!"

"Protego!" He blocked it easily. "Seriously? How many times have you used that on me? Do you know anything?" He scoffed lightly.

Her mind was buzzing. Her head must've hit the wall harder than she thought when she was trying to clutch onto her wand.

"I...I.."

"What? Speak up for merlin's sake." Draco was becoming bored.

Her knees buckled, she fell down, holding the side of head tightly. The pain was growing worse.

She knew she was weak. She wasn't prepared. Why did she say yes?

"No need to get so dramatic. I used Stupefy on you. Nearly everyone uses that."

"Well fuck. You win, okay?" She coughed into her arm, her throat dry from all the air that had seemed to leave her lungs from the start.

"So that's it? Just like that? The duel didn't even last-"

She was tired of him. Tired of hearing his meaningless words, he won, wasn't that enough for his self absorbed demeanor?

"I don't care Malfoy! To answer your question from earlier, no! I don't know anything, alright?! Your stupid friend Pansy sent me here to fucking help you, and here I am duelling you instead! To be honest, I don't even know why I signed up for this...this stupid duel."

That's what she wanted to say.

"I can't....I don't know how." She finally choked out.

Draco stood there, a puzzled look plastered on his face.

"I'm sorry for wasting your time. I never had much practice with casting charms or spells before so this was unnecessary."

"So you're telling me someone never used Stupefy on you?" He asked jokingly.

"No. Never. You were the first." She avoided meeting his eyes, but she could tell he was in a state of shock.

The smirk disappeared from his face.

"Well bloody hell. Why didn't you say anything? Not that don't care it's just I could be in a lot of-"

"I'm keeping this a secret okay? After all we both signed up for this. This challenge...it was both of our choices, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Great."

She let go of her head, holding onto the railing as she finally got up, embarrassed of her fragility, and without looking at Draco she left the scene.

━ ✽━ 

It hurt to lay on her back.

She pulled the sheets over her small frame, laying on her side, thinking about the events as they played over and over in her head, how she was so vulnerable, how embarrassing it must have been to see her so feeble.

She wasn't ready. Clearly.

Despite the immense amount of pains that had been brought to her, it wasn't the same pain her father had used on her, nor her mother.

Because those times, she couldn't fight back.

Now she was able to.

That's what made the two parallels so different. Here, she had a chance to prove she was worth something, she wasn't getting married off to a random prince, she owned books, not kingdoms, she talked to people her age, not other heirs.

This was her life now. For the next four months.

And if she lost today, she would just have to win tomorrow.


	18. SEVENTEEN

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐔𝐍 𝐖𝐀𝐒 highly casted upon the cloudless sky, welcoming the warm rays that poured onto the many bodies standing on the Quidditch bleachers. The pairs of colors had dominated the stadium—differentiating the two houses. Juliet's fingers were grasped around the pole of a Slytherin flag, it was her first time seeing a Quidditch, and as expected, she was more than excited.

Daphne took the pole from her hands and gestured to sit between her and Astoria who shifted over to the left, Juliet was more than glad to sit with company.

Games were always entertaining, but sitting with another made it feel more alive. The atmosphere would be unique, because every person made it peculiar, and for the first time in a long time she sensed it.

A small smile crept up on her sun touched face.

Usually when the sun was out back at her parallel, she always felt cold, the reason was unknown, but now she felt warm and noticed.

She wasn't alone.

Astoria shook her shoulders. "It's starting!" Her voice was filled with enthusiasm, but it seemed weary.

Nonetheless, Juliet averted her attention to the flying brooms all at once, it amazed her how something so simple was altered into something that was used for sports. Despite the complexity of these simplistic items, the game itself was quite easy to understand—at least clearer than the ones back at home.

Home.

She didn't miss it, at least not now, in fact she wouldn't be feeling anything for a long time.

Because besides the little mishaps that happened here and there, this time she actually had people around her, though it was just the beginning, she knew it was worth waiting till the end.

Despite all the commotion around her, she found herself focused on one player, Adrian Pucey, perhaps it was his looks, but his quick reflexes, mannerisms, the way he held his broom tightly, attracted Juliet the most.

He was unusually good. Though Gryffindor was quite ahead, she could tell he was one of the more firm players, the one that the team relied one.

Her friends took notice.

"Fancy him?" Astoria queried.

She widened her eyes, shaking her head furiously. "What? No, he's just really good." She sighed, hoping the two would believe her.

Thankfully they did, not pestering her any further. "He's the best on the team. Without him, our team would be nothing, well if Draco joined this year...maybe we would have a chance of winning this house cup." Her voice was toned with embarrassment, as if she didn't want to admit it.

It was obvious that Juliet Gryffindors won the cup every year, Astoria explained how the crowd would lose their pride because of the losing streak they adapted to.

She realized that she had brought the flag out of impulse, it wouldn't be used.

"Malfoy used to play?"

"Yeah." Daphne replied "He stopped in year five though."

"Why?"

"Don't know, he just dropped out, competition was probably too heavy for him."

"Oh you know that isn't true." Astoria retorted. "Draco was better than Adrian." She motioned to Juliet. "He was fantastic really, when he opted out, it was sudden, none of them were expecting it. If he stayed that year, in the team, we could've easily won with Pucey fifth year."

"So you don't know the reason why?"

Daphne sighed tiredly, her chin resting upon her hands, "no one knows. I think it was out of impulse."

"You idiot," Astoria argued, "if he did it out of impulse he would just rejoin, the team would be more than glad to have him back."

She giggled at the continuous, inevitable arguing of the two girls.

"Whatever." Daphne yawned. "Every year is the same either way. Gryffindors win. Slytherin curses them out, and hopes again to try next year."

"We still have one more year—" Juliet cut in.

"I know...but Daphne's right. We never win." Astoria pointed to the scoreboard as Lee Jordan's announcements were continuously being cut off by Mcgonagall. "See? If Harry gets the snitch...he wins. And every damn year he does."

Juliet didn't seem to radiate the same enthusiastic energy prior to the game.

Even if they did win next year, she wouldn't be here to see it, Realization hit her like a brick.

She continued to watch Adrian, trying to forget about the prying thought.

━ ✽━

𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐎'𝐒 𝐒𝐊𝐈𝐍 𝐖𝐀𝐒 cold.

He shivered uncontrollably as he watched Adrian score a couple of points, earning some cheers from Slytherins.

Tired ones.

Despite the sun directly shielding him from any wind, he felt even more sick, as if winter had never really left. Everyone was wearing their cloaks, while him on the other hand, was wearing his former Quidditch sweater. The green and silver stripes complimenting his sharp features and his pale skin. His grey eyes still stormy as ever, somehow never matching any grey had ever seen.

Any former Quidditch player usually wouldn't wear their sweaters if they were kicked off or left it themselves, and saw it as an embarrassment or a cue to move on, but Draco didn't care, because the sweater he wore meant a ton more than anything else.

Even though it was a bit tight, he didn't mind.

If anything, Quidditch was the only "normal" part of his life—everything else was just a blur. The memories were the closest of childhood he could receive, especially since he never got the childhood he thought he deserved.

And just when he thought he could acquire his first victory, everything slipped out his hands, because of him. Because of the person who was supposedly his father.

He never hated anyone, but when someone took away something from him he loved or admired unconditionally, he couldn't help it.

He assumed his father were the roots for his branches—why he turned out like the person he is today.

Some would say they saw a bit of Lucius in him, because of the light hair, pale skin and their signature smirk, back then he saw it as a compliment: his father was someone he looked up to, someone he aspired to be.

However, he wondered if those people meant it physically or mentally, as he grew older while time stayed young, he realized that they meant it in only way.

If his assumptions were correct, then he was his father.

If he hated his father, did he hate himself too?

Now that he thought about it, his mother was the only one who never compared him to her father.

And for that, he was truly grateful. Because if she did admit they were somewhat alike, he would have given up a long time ago.

But as long as she was here, he wouldn't give up. Unlike his father, who constantly left her alone all the time, he wouldn't ever do the same. That would be the only difference between them.

Gryffindors were ahead by a large amount.

He sighed.

Slytherins were losing faith, he didn't blame them, he lost it a long time ago.

Quidditch was the closest thing to home, yet now it felt like the furthest thing away because he was pulled out of it. Slytherins could have easily won every year if he stayed.

Yet, the duel a few days ago was the closest thing he could ever acquire to "entertainment" or "home."

No—not because he won so easily, he expected it, it was because it felt natural. He wasn't forced, in fact it felt way too good to be true. It felt like a fever dream.

Despite how short it was, he would do anything to go back. If people heard him, they would have assumed he would think it was to see Juliet in pain.

But that wasn't it.

It felt so easy to do something out of his own free will, he had a choice.

So many times he was brung out by his father. Forced to give up Quidditch, forced to stop talking to his mother so often, forced to do the task, forced to become a death eater, forced to live with a hideous mark for the rest of his life. Forced to kill a man he never really thought much of besides a biased Headmaster.

Life wasn't kind.

Yet that night, it seemed to spare some.

He already knew that the next time would be a long way from now, because time nor fate was never in favor of Draco Malfoy.

Slytherins were losing, Gryffndors would win, he could tell the fate just by looking at the lifeless crowd that were supporting Slytherins before, now aiding their own conversations instead.

His eyes peeled away from the players, as he rubbed the soft material between his fingers.

Nostalgia ripped through his soul, he clenched his jaw harshly.

He hated failure.

But he hated himself even more when he realized he wouldn't be there to prevent it.

And just like last year, Gryffindors won. The crowd on the other side of the stadium erupted into cheers as Harry held up the snitch tightly, Ron approaching him from behind.

They would win next year too.

As Lee Jordan screamed into the loud mic, Draco shielded his ears with his palms.

Nothing would ever change. Not the Slytherin losing streak, neither his life.

A tall shadow towered over him, as he looked up to the brown eyed girl. Her warm irises stared into the Draco's light ones.

She looked rather crossed.


	19. EIGHTEEN

𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐀 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐃 𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑 Juliet who strolled over slowly, still exhausted from her sleepless night. She yawned softly, placing her hand over her mouth to shield any suspicions her friend could think of. Thankfully it worked.

"Did you start the paper yet? For Transfiguration?"

"What? The one that Mcgonagall assigned?"

"No. The one Flitwick gave." She replied sarcastically.

Juliet cocked her eyebrow in bewilderment.

"Yes Mcgonagall. Last time I checked, she was our teacher. Either way, it's due tomorrow, have you started?" She gestured to her paper, it was about three pages long, lengthy but well written.

"T-tomorrow?" She stammered quizzically, her puzzled expression churning into a worried one.

If there was one thing she disliked about this parallel, it was the workload.

"Of course you didn't. Do you want me to go to the library with you? We can both go and-"

"No. It's fine." Juliet didn't want to be another so she declined Astoria's polite request, thanking her for offering.

"Alright, I'll be in the dorm then, see you later?"

"Later." She yawned once again, before pulling the straps of her bags over her shoulder.

She could use a short nap, but this paper was her top priority now, she hated to leave things for last minute, but the amount of habits she had acquired seemed to get even worse.

Procrastination.

Biting her tongue.

Stomping her foot on the ground when she felt angered.

Constantly imagining Draco as her father.

It was truly tiresome. Her mind was occupied with thought she never thought she had the capability of thinking of.

She greeted the librarian before seating herself far away from the boisterous students that were constantly being hushed by Madam Pince, giving an apologetic smile to Juliet who was having hard time looking for the correct material for her paper. The candle lit library sent a lavender essence throughout the place, calming Juliet, despite how anxious she was about this assignment. Just when she was about to give up, her doe eyed irises fell upon a large book that was titled "The Complexity of Transfiguration: And How to Master It"

A mysterious smile full of success crept up on her face, as her hand went to reach for it, another one grasped it out of her reach. She groaned, biting her lip in frustration as her attention averted to the dark haired wizard who only gave her a half smile.

Adrian Pucey. Now that he was up close to her, he was quite handsome really. His blue eyes were darker than usual in the dim light and his hair was unkempt, as he tousled it, before opening the book.

"Can I have that? I was here first."

"But I grabbed it first." He retorted, skimming through the pages.

Of course he would say that, any logical person would, Juliet thought of an excuse in the meantime. She didn't need to lie for this one.

"I need to for my paper. The one Mcgonagall assigned-"

"The one that's due tomorrow?" He let out a disappointed sigh. "Bit of a procrastinator aren't you?"

"I actually forgot."

"Hm." He shook his head slowly, side to side, as if he was criticizing her. "Excuses, excuses. Either way, I need this book for my daily reading."

He tucked the book under his arm, but her feet planted in front of him firmly, she needed that book.

"Can't you read something else? I'm sure there's plenty of amazing stuff in here besides a measly, old Transfiguration book."

Pucey let out a gasp, a fake one really but it was convincing enough for Juliet to feel sorry. "How dare you insult my favorite book? Don't you understand that Transfiguration is my favorite subject? Hm?"

Juelit's face fell, as she apologized. "S-sorry, I just really need it. And I'm really tired too, so the faster I finish it, the more time I have to rest."

Adrian looked at her with a puzzled expression plastered on his olive skin. "So you really forgot? You don't sound like a procrastinator."

"That's because I'm not." She held out her hand, watching the clock tick away with time. "Please."

Her eyebrows furrowed, she was getting a bit angered, her toes curled underneath her shoes, trying to prevent herself from stomping.

"Alright fine." He sighed, about to place the heavy book in his hands. "But...bring it to the boys dorm alright?"

"The book?"

"No. Your finished essay. I want to read it."

"Why is that?" She queried.

"Do you want the book Juliet? Yes or no?"

"Yes." She blurted a bit too loudly, earning glances and a loud hush from Madam Pince.

Pucey only smiled. "Here." He placed the cumbersome material onto her hand as Juliet stumbled a bit forward, thankfully Adrian grabbed her shoulders before her face could plant the ground.

Her hues dominated a pinkish color. She flushed in embarrassment, clutching the book tightly to her chest as if it would slip away any moment.

"Be careful, alright? See you later."

She gave a thin smile, before exhaling a sigh of relief, her body slumped over the table, as her fingers fell over the thin pages, her eyes continuously scanning for any information.

━ ✽━

"Didn't think you would show up. Sit." Adrian gestured to the spot on his bed next to him. She seemed rather nervous but he sent her a reassuring smile, telling her it would be okay.

She was hesitant, didn't want to hand her paper to Adrian. His strong facial language was enough to show he was the judging type.

But this time, he seemed quite relaxed, his shoulders fell a bit, and his muscles weren't tense as before. He was oddly comfortable despite the awkward atmosphere Juliet sensed. Maybe she was wrong.

A few minutes had flown by, and Juliet peered around the room, hearing Adrian flip the page, the boys dormitory was no different than the girls, it was a bit messier, there were scraps of paper on the floor, disorganized beds, half opened dressers.

Only one bed stayed clean. Whoever it was probably had never slept on it, it looked as if it was untouched.

She flinched at Adrians sudden clapping, but managed to form a smile at the gesture. It released some sort of tension that once roamed in her.

"Bravo." He handed the paper back to Juliet, who let out a chuckle at the comments he made.

"Seriously. Where did you learn to write like that?"

She only shrugged, the truth was she didn't know. On the other hand, Juliet believed it was poorly written, yet Adrian's compliments seemed to give her a boost of confidence.

"I actually don't know. It just all came to me I guess."

Adrian let out a tired sigh, yawning freely, Juliet was afraid he was growing to be bored, but he shook his head as if he read her thoughts.

"I'm tired Juliet. Not bored. I promise, I would have not invited you if I would be bored. You have to right my essays from now on.:

Her heart fluttered the way he said her first name.

"R-right." She stammered, cursing herself out in her mind, "I'm pretty sure if I wrote youts, it wouldn't sound as good."

"I was only joking." He laid down, his arms underneath his head, his toned arms flexed as Juliet blushed, looking away quickly.

Merlin, she missed men.

"Want to know something?"

"Sure." Juliet responded, still not looking.

"I don't take Transfiguration." He grinned.

She jerked her head around, widening her eyes.

"Um, why exactly am I here then?"

"Just an excuse to see you." He yawned again, closing his eyes.

But Julet only rubbed the piece of parchment between her fingers in confusion. "Why would you want to see me?"

"Connect the dots Juliet."

But Juliet didn't know what Adrian was talking about, as if there were no dots to begin with. She tried hard, really did, but didn't understand why Adrian would want to see her if he didn't take Transfiguration.

Perhaps he needed assistance in another class?

He took realization of her confusion. "One day you will understand, you're tired now aren't you?"

She clenched her jaw, trying to hold in her awaiting yawn.

"A bit."

"So am I. I'll leave you to it. See you tomorrow?" He smiled.

"See you." She waved slightly, as she walked out the door.

After closing it behind her, she flinched at the talk figure towering over her head.

"Fuck, Draco."

"Were you shagging someone? Well, well, well, how the tables have turned. Didn't know you could become a slu-"

"I was letting someone read my paper." She held up her completed assignment, holding it up to Draco's face.

"Smart of you to bring evidence to plan an excuse. Who was it?"

"I didn't shag anyone Malfoy!" She whispered, hushing him, his voice was echoing too loudly, if anyone heard him, they would think the wrong things. "Even if I did, I wouldn't tell you."

"Right." He looked upset. "Because it would be me I assume?"

"In your dreams." She seethed through her clenched teeth.

"Not so loud Eclipse," he whispered, "someone might hear us. That wouldn't end well would it?"

She rolled her eyes, shoving past his lean figure, his chest was hard, but she managed to push through and managed to leave the stairwell before she could hear his voice again.

She despised it.

Because unlike a library that was quiet, tranquil, and possesed a sweet aura,

Draco Malfoy was a storm.


End file.
